


Better Ending

by orphan_account



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Ben Solo Needs A Hug, Eventual Poe Dameron/Finn, F/M, Happy Ending, How Do I Tag, I'm Bad At Tagging, Love, M/M, Oral Sex, Redeemed Ben Solo, Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-16
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:14:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 49,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22273129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Ben survived Exogal and is brought back to the resistance base. He's not exactly welcomed back with open arms after everything he's done, but things will get better. The problem is, it's really hard to be Ben when you've been Kylo for so long.This is my first fic, please don't be too harsh. Also, rated explicit for later chapters if you keep reading. Also, also, I hope nobody has written this yet... If so, I apologize. I just can't wrap my head around RoS's ending...I'm bad at tagging!!! And bad at naming!!!
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Finn, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 88
Kudos: 156





	1. Broken Things

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is my first fic, so be gentle. I don't know how often I will post and the chapters may not be too long at first because I'm testing the waters. I hope you enjoy! Also, if the format is funky, I apologize because I've never used this before.

It was grueling and painful, rocks biting into his hands as he made his ascent. He could've ended this all, given into the darkness creeping around the edges of his mind, but he didn't. Not when Rey was still up there alone. When his hand finally reached the top, it slapped down harder than he intended and sent dust flying upwards. As he pulled himself up, he couldn't help but groan. He’d made it and he’d done it all on his own.

He'd seen the bolt and flashes, heard the yells, but he wasn't quite sure what had happened. It wasn't until he saw a lone body lying on the dark stone floor, the white ensemble they had been wearing was now a dirty gray.

Getting up and hobbling forward, falling once because of his broken leg, he made his way towards where she laid. Her small body was a faded color of her once bronzed skin that shone in the sun, but he couldn't worry about that now as he went to her. 

He fell, his busted leg not doing much to halt his descent. He touched her arms, feeling how cold they were before he pulled her upward. He cradled her gently and he moved his leg painfully under her to prop her up. Her body was completely limp in his grasp, her head lolling in a way that forced him to hold it steady by the neck.

Helplessness crept up on him at the thought of not being able to help her, or get her help. He looked around hoping that somebody, anybody would come in here and help them. He'd even jump for joy, though not literally, if the traitor came.

When the realization set in that nobody was coming, he felt the tears welling up and pulled her towards him. He tucked his head between her neck and shoulder, clinging to her in this state of desperation. His eyes flicked across the ground and feeling like a child again, completely helpless and at the mercy of what the Force wanted.

Then, he felt it. The flicker of light and he pulled her back to look at her again. He didn't know if it was in himself or her, but he had to try. Placing his hand on her stomach, he breathed in and out. Focusing on her and her alone, he reached deep within himself. If she could heal him then he could bring her back from death. He knew he could, no matter the cost. He’d defy what the Force wanted, for her and only her.

He thought about her. The way his heart leapt whenever he saw her. The way her fire, even when focused on hurting him, lit him up inside and spurred him on. The way her fingers had felt against his when they'd touched hands. Then, it was happening again. Her hand was touching his and it made him jolt ever so slightly.

His head flicked to stare at her, seeing her pale skin disappear in a matter of seconds as she was able to hold her own head up. Her eyes were unfocused at first, but once they saw him clearly, she pushed herself up and off of his leg. He felt the relief of her body no longer being there and the fact that she was back and sitting up.

His eyes wandered around her face as his hand remained on the back of her neck, taking in how her face came alive at the sight of him. How she saw him clearly and in the way he’d always dreamed she would. Then, she spoke with that soothing voice of hers the one thing he needed to hear the most.

“Ben,” it was quiet and wasn’t a question, but a fact because she was right.

His head shifted from side to side slightly, taking her in as the tears welled up behind his eyes. Feeling her hand creeping up and touching his cheek almost had him leaning into it for comfort. He couldn’t remember being this happy, then her hand hovered away before she leaned in.

The kiss caught him off guard and he had to adjust his arm to hold her against him properly. He’d never been kissed and she kissed him like she was starved, holding his face close to hers and drinking in his presence. The kiss lasted for longer than he expected before she pulled back and he thumbed through her hair that was at the nape of her neck.

He stared at her soft face, seeing the smile that she had there and was just for him. Even though he hadn’t truly smiled in years and he hated his own, he couldn’t stop it from splitting his face. He let out a breathy laugh as she petted his hair slightly before everything seemed to move in slow motion.

Her face turned to confusion as the darkness swirled around his vision, and he couldn’t stop his momentum as he went backwards. Still feeling her hand on his, he thought to himself that he was ready. He’d done one good thing in his life and if this was what the Force wanted, then at least he got to see her one last time. And so, he gave into the darkness.

~

Rey felt his life force slowly diming more and more, and the tears pricked at the back of her eyes. She couldn’t let this happen, wouldn’t let it happen. Reaching out, she mumbled, “Be with him…” When she’d said it for herself, the Jedi’s before her had done as she pleaded. That meant they could do this again, right? As he began to flicker, she slammed her hand on the ground, “Be with him!”

She didn’t give a damn if she was yelling at them because they would listen to her. They couldn’t leave him, not when she needed him. A voice then flicked through her mind, _You’re all the Jedi_.

Nodding her head, she understood and pressed back into the Force, reaching out with all strength she had left. A thousand generations lived in her now, she could use them to stop him from dying, and so she tried. Screaming in frustration at the fact that he was still slipping from her, the tears slipped down her cheeks. “Luke!” she cried out. “Yoda?” Still, there was no answer and so she had resigned herself and him to this fate.

Then, her head popped up, “Leia…?”

Looking down at him, she felt her presence settle over Ben before his light stopped being sucked away. In fact, it started growing again and he sucked in a shaky breath, his eyes still closed and he didn’t move a muscle. Still, he was alive and it wasn’t thanks to all those Jedi before them. No, it was the love of his mother that saved him.

“Thank you…” she breathed as Leia faded away.

A sudden light shone through the rocks above her head and the familiar purr of the Falcon’s engine came. Looking up, she used a hand to block the light as it landed safely among the rumbled of this place. It opened and she expected Poe to be flying it, but he wasn’t. Instead, Lando came from the craft with Chewie and Finn following.

Her breath left her lungs as she brushed Ben’s hair back and mumbled, “We’re safe now. Rest.”

Finn was the first to reach them, shoving past the two other men. He ran to her, hit his knees to grab her shoulders and hug her fiercely, “I thought we lost you. I felt… I felt…”

“Ben saved me,” she said after pulling away from his embrace to look down at him.

“Let’s get him on the ship,” Lando said with a firm nod, Chewie by his side.

“What?” Finn barked. “He… He’s tried to kill us a handful of times.”

“He’s still my nephew,” Lando said and looked to Chewie, who gave a gruff nod.

Even after he’d killed his own father, Han’s best friends were still here to protect his son. Chewie handed his blaster to Rey before picking Ben up, one hand under his legs and the other holding his upper half. Ben’s head flopped to the side, but he didn’t stir and remained dead to the world even though he really wasn't anymore.

Finn hissed sharply, “His leg…”

Rey looked to it quickly, seeing the severe damage there before touching Chewie’s back as the Wookie carried him to the ship. After gently laying him down, he moved into the cockpit to co-pilot with Lando and she collapsed to the floor with a sigh. She’d completely forgotten about the lightsabers until Finn sat next to her and placed them on the floor between them. Smiling at him, she felt peace within the Force.


	2. Him

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for the comments and kudos!! It makes me so happy!!  
> Also, just so you know, my L, O, and W keys are being finicky! If I am missing one of those letters, please don't hesitate to tell me because I tend to read too fast and skip over things like that!  
> Once again, thank you guys so much!!

The ship stirred her, jolting to a stop as it landed. Her pillow moved, stretching with a groan as Finn cracked his neck. She sat up, removing her head from his lap and feeling his jacket slip from her shoulders. As she rubbed her eyes, the grogginess fled from her head and everything came rushing back to her.

"Ben," she mumbled and turned, standing to move where the bunk was. When she reached him, he didn't wake or even stir at that. Had she not felt him through their bond, then she would have sworn he was dead.

His skin was a sharper contrast to his hair, paler than she’d ever seen it and he had dark bags under his eyes. The two cuts on his face, one under the right side of his bottom lip and the other under his left eye, were dulled now that his blood had dried. The steady rise and fall of his chest was the only movement he made. Had he even moved this whole time they'd been in light speed? She didn't know because exhaustion still nagged at her eyes and brain.

"You both need to see a nurse," Lando's voice came from behind her. "And you both need sleep."

Rey shook her head, "I'll heal him." Carefully, she reached out a hand and touched his soft, ripped sweater.

A calloused hand touched her arm, "Not right now. He'll last because he's strong. See a nurse, recuperate. You can heal him fully when you're at 100."

She sighed before nodding her head, watching Lando take his hand away before he, Finn, and Chewie exited the ship. She didn't though because she couldn't stand to leave Ben alone. He'd been alone, maybe not physically, for so long that she didn't want him to feel that way again.

Letting her hand reach back up, she brushed his soft, wavy hair from his face. He was dirty and sweaty, with tinges of blood here and there on his face and in his hair. Still, he was beautiful. As she stared at his peaceful face, she took a strand of his hair and looped it around her finger to play with.

"I'm here for the wounded," a female voice came and she glanced towards the hanger door.

"Here's one," Rey spoke, stopping her fiddling to rest her hand on the pillow beside his head.

The woman looked from her to the man, stepping up slowly. She eyed him carefully where he laid before mumbling, "That's Kylo Ren, isn't it? Supreme Leader of the First Order."

Rey thought about lying because, no offense, but this woman couldn't have been in touch with everything that happened on this base before she thought better of it. "He was," she admitted with a nod of her head. "He's Ben Solo now."

The woman sucked in a deep breath, looking him over, "General Leia's son."

Rey only gave her a sad nod.

The woman pointed to him then, "You should get yourself checked while I take care of him."

Rey nodded her head quickly as the lady put her kit down, touching his cheek, "I'll be back." Then, she made her way from the Falcon and plodded onto the landing pad. Her eyes flicked around where people were congratulating each other and celebrating their win altogether. Even the droids were greeting each other and rejoicing with what must have been happiness. They had done it, defeated the dark side and the galaxy would soon be at peace.

Her eyes fell to where Finn and Poe embraced each other, hugging each other just like they had the first time. She couldn’t help but wander towards them, instead to the nurse, needing to check on Poe. Even though the two of them didn’t get along, she still cared about him. He was Finn’s good friend and she would make this friendship work if it killed her.

She didn’t mean literally as she glanced back to the ship where Ben was, hoping everything was going well. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Ben or the nurse, it was that she didn’t trust them together. The only people Ben knew here were Lando, Chewie, Finn, and herself. She could count Poe too, but their time together had probably been the worst relationship out of the bunch of them after the torture.

As she moved through the crowds, people all around patted her on the back as a way of congratulating her for what she’d done. She wanted to tell each of them that it wasn’t just her, but they were already moving away before she could get the words from her mouth. Poe lifted his head, catching her eye and using his hold on the back of Finn’s neck to turn it to see her. Even though she’d already hugged Finn, he held his arms out for her and Poe to tuck themselves into.

When the hug finally ended, Poe escorted her to the nursing station as Finn moved off to hug Rose where she was currently being slung around by Chewie. As she sat still, letting the man assess her injuries, Poe spoke, “How did you do it? Kill the Emperor?”

“It wasn’t just me,” she started. “I had all of the Jedi within me. They helped me to rise.”

He nodded his head quickly, before his eyebrows went upward in question, “Is that it? There isn’t anything else?”

“Well…” she trailed and chewed on her lower lip. She could just picture the way the men had tortured him before _Kylo_ had gotten a hold of him. Reminding herself that Kylo was no more, she mumbled, “Ben Solo helped me too.”

Poe wrenched himself backwards like he’d been slapped in the face, “WHAT?!”

“It’s ok…” she started, but never finished as Poe stood up.

“That murderer helped you? No! Rey! You naïve child!” he spat out with venom. “He didn’t help you! He helped himself!”

“No, Poe… He didn’t… That’s not…” she stumbled, her face heating up at his outrage in front of the nurse as he ducked outside of the tent.

“Is he…? He’s here?!” Poe shouted before pulling out his blaster.

Rey found her words as she found her feet, standing and yanking hard at his arm, “I died!” Those words halted Poe’s movements as he looked to her, studying her carefully before nodding to himself like he did sometimes. Breathing in to center herself, “I died. Finn felt it. But Ben… He saved me. He brought me back from the dead. He could have left me there and went about to conquer the galaxy, but he didn’t.”

“Are you… Is this the truth?” Poe asked and she nodded her head quickly.

“Please, Poe… I need you as a friend here,” she pleaded. “I know there’s nothing that can change the past and what happened to you, but could you find it inside you to at least try and give him a chance? He’s changed. Please.”

Poe’s eyes flicked between hers before he grumbled, “He saved you. That’s the only good thing he’s done. I value your life because you’re a friend and Finn loves you, but I can’t just wipe the slate clean.”

Her heart dropped into her stomach, “He’s different now. I know he is. Please…”

“If he’s really changed then it will show in his actions,” Poe said firmly before pulling his arm from her grasp. “He can stay here, so long as he doesn’t go all dark side on us. The second that he does though, he has to leave. That’s it. That’s the best offer I’m giving you.”

Rey nodded her head solemnly before parting from the tent, knowing there wasn’t anything wrong with her. Ben had healed her completely, she was just bloody, dirty, and tired at this point. As she started to walk towards the Falcon, Lando caught her and told her she should take up residence in her barrack room tonight. He and Chewie would watch over Ben because she needed to rest.

Even though she really didn’t want to, she reluctantly gave in because a shower and a good night’s rest in her bed would be the best thing for her. Making her way around the base, people all around her were celebrating. They all had different concoctions of fire-water, drinking themselves blind. Not only were they drinking, but they were also having encounters with one another from what she gathered as she passed closed doors and nooks in the hallway.

She’d glanced to see two different colored beings tucked inside a nook, not paying too much attention to see who they were as she fled. When she finally made it to her room, she tucked herself inside and set the lock firmly in place. Flicking on the light as she breathed out, she knew she should be partying with the rest, but she couldn’t bring herself to. Not in the state she and Ben were both in.

Moving towards her bathroom, she turned the shower on, knowing there probably wouldn’t be any hot water. Not with all the other bodies living here. Still, she could dream.

Peeling her clothes off, she dumped them on the floor and picked her hair free from its ties. Using her toes to test it first, she stepped under the lukewarm water that was quickly turning cold. Scrubbing at the dirt and grim that was sticking to her skin and knotted in her hair as quickly as she could, she watched nearly black water disappear down the drain. It took the smell and feel of that place as well as her own blood from her body, making her feel cleaner than she’d felt in years.

Shaking slightly as she stepped from the now cold shower, she toweled herself dry quick and scurried back into her room. Slipping on a pair of panties and just a plain shirt, turning out the lights, she climbed up the bed because she was in desperate need of sleep. And unlike every single night of her entire life, she fell asleep in a matter of minutes.

There were no windows in the barracks, so no sunlight slipped inside to wake her up at a reasonable time. The only thing that did, was the thumping on the other side of her door. Sitting straight up, she rubbed the drool that was stuck to her cheek as she mumbled, “Yeah?” Her voice came out funny because she felt like she had cotton piled in there.

“It’s Finn,” the voice came. “I came to check on you. You went to bed early last night and it’s nearly noon.”

“Noon?” she cried and scrambled out of bed, rushing to her dresser to yank some clothes out. Pulling on some beige pants, she ripped her current shirt off to replace it with another shirt just like, only a shade darker.

Rushing to the bathroom, she scrubbed her teeth quickly before expertly tying her hair up in their buns. Then, she hopped across the floor as she pulled on her boots before she threw the door open. There, Finn stood, staring at her with an amused look on his face.

She studied him carefully, “What?”

“A little eager this morning? We already won, you know,” he muttered with a grin.

“I know, but I have to check on Ben,” she said simply and watched as his grin disappeared instantly, replaced with a pout.

“You need to eat first though,” he said pointedly.

It wasn’t a request she noted as he dragged her through the halls, a firm grip on her arm. He wasn’t hurting her at all, but he was determined to get food in her and would fight her if he needed to. He didn’t need to though because she was starved.

When they got to the cantina, he let her go through the line first, grabbing her tray to pile food on it. Once her tray was packed full with the basics of gruel, crumpets, and other simple food, she moved over towards where Poe, Rose, Mikka, and several others sat.

She sat down in a heap, leaving some space between herself and Poe after yesterday and began to shovel food into her mouth. Even though she never had to go hungry or want for food anymore, it was still a habit to eat everything as quickly as possible like it was about to disappear. A tap against her side, told her that Finn was trying to squeeze between her and Poe, so she moved over still not stopping her steady flow of food into her mouth.

“Come on Rey…” Mikka mumbled and made a disgusted face at the sight before her.

“Your food is already dead,” Rose giggled which made Rey look up at her as she shoved another crumpet into her mouth.

Rey took a second to swallow all the food in her mouth, “I’m just hungry.”

“It’s not going anywhere. _Nothing_ is,” Finn muttered under his breath.

Her eyes flicked to his, trying to get him to keep his voice low because she didn’t need the whole base knowing Ben was here yet. Not after everything he’d done when he was Kylo. Then, to her horror, Rose spoke.

“Are you talking about… _Him_ …”

Rey’s head whipped towards her, “What?”

“You mean the fact that you brought Kylo kriffing Ren to the base?” a guy at the other end of the table asked. “How could you betray us like this?”

“Whoa, whoa,” Finn said and held his hands out. “That’s not…”

“How did you find out?” Rey asked, trying not to focus on his harsh comment and stared solely at Rose.

“The whole base knows,” Rose muttered and glanced around at everyone. “Why did you bring him _here_?”

“It’s not what you…” Rey trailed before she felt it. It was a ripple in the Force. Fear making a drop that spread outwards into anger that was strong enough to pierce through her and make one word fall from her mouth, “Ben…”


	3. The Ship

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much!!!!! Once again, please alert me to errors as now my whole keyboard seems intent on ruining my ability to type! :)

When Ben blinked his eyes open, his whole world spun for a second as he tried to figure out where he was. As his eyes adjusted to the man made light, he realized he knew this place like he knew the back of his hand. He was on the Falcon, his father’s pride and joy. He could remember scrambling around the ship, trying to find every nook and cranny that he could squeeze himself into when he was younger.

For years of his life he always thought his father loved it more than he loved him, but he had been wrong back then.

Licking his dry lips, he pushed himself up, his bangs flopping down into his eyes. As he brushed them back, feeling the sweat on his brow, he used his arms to hold himself up as a twinge of pain and soreness started in his back and radiated outwards. He glanced around the ship for a second before he shifted his legs, feeling the scratchy fabric of the blanket dance along his skin of his foot. At first, he didn’t think anything of it until something just didn’t seem right. Looking down at his legs, he studied them before shifting his left one then his right.

Ripping the blanket back, the bottom half of his right pant leg was gone as was the flesh of his lower leg. Instead of his usual bone, muscle, and skin leg, in its place was now a metal _leg_ if that’s what you wanted to call it. Sure, when he thought about moving it, it moved, but he couldn’t feel the fabric that rubbed up against it.

At first, he could only stare at it wide eyed before the shakes started. It was a shiver that danced up his spine as he felt a drop of sweat roll down his face. If he was honest, his stomach was doing flips as his eyes flicked between where he could see his flesh and bone foot to the shiny, black one that now occupied the right side of the bed.

He carefully reached a hand out, needing to touch it to feel that it was real before he jumped as someone came walking onto the ship. He looked up and saw a woman typing away on a datapad as her boots clomped along noisily. She glanced up briefly before jumping and dropping it to the ground, letting the device bounce without making a move to retrieve it. Her mouth opened up like she wanted to scream as she backpedaled away from him.

Instinctively, he held his hand out, “ _Stop_.”

She quickly obeyed his command before studying him with wide eyes, “You… You…”

“What is this?” he asked and motioned to his leg, barely glancing to it before setting his eyes back on her.

She wrung her hands together, out of fear he noted when briefly reaching for her mind, “Your leg was broken, severely. On top of that, the bones in your ankle and foot were shattered. Even…” She trailed off and gulped huge, “Even if I could have fixed them, the skeletal injury had caused arterial lesions… The tissue of your leg had already begun to die… Amputating it was the only option…”

His leg was dead, that’s what she had said. Panic flooded his system then as he realized the predicament he was in, then he mumbled, “Where’s Rey?” Feeling for her mind once again, he felt her reluctance to tell him, but he would get it from her one way or another. They couldn’t keep her from him.

As he was about to force his way into her head further, another body appeared on the ship and in his line of sight. He felt light headed, the blood draining from his face as he stared up at the hairy figure coming towards him. Gulping, he mumbled, “Chewie?”

His father’s best friend growled his response at him, “ ‘Ben’ .”

The panic that was there, turned to intense fear because he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t face him after what he’d done. It didn’t matter that his father forgave him after what he’d done, he was still having a hard time forgiving himself. Jumping down from the bed, his right leg buckled since it was not used to the new sensation that this metal limb brought with its attachment. He landed harshly on his knees, his hands slapping the floor loudly, the fall making him groan loudly from the pain.

“Wait!” the woman cried and reached for him.

“ _Don’t_ ,” he spoke harsher than he meant to as Chewie approached with a grumble.

“ ‘You should take it slow’ .”

“No!” he cried and went to push himself up, his arms burning with effort as he slithered his _real_ leg under him. As he got himself upright and placed a little weight on his new leg, he couldn’t help the uncomfortable and completely unpleasant feeling that settled in the upper half of his leg. “Don’t come near me!”

“You need to take it easy,” the woman begged and motioned towards the bed.

His eyes glanced to it before looking to her, keeping his eyes clear of Chewie, “Where’s Rey?”

“ ‘You need to rest’ ,” Chewie grunted and held his furry paws up for Ben to see that he meant him no harm.

As much as Ben believed him, he couldn’t let him touch him and he took a step back. For the briefest time that his weight was only on his fake leg, it was enough to buckle it again and he landed hard on his backside. A thousand curse words flew through his head, but that part of himself that was still connected to his mother kept him from blurting any of them out. His mother had been a princess, so he was held to a high standard of a type of prince which meant that curse words were beneath him.

Shame bubbled upwards and the fear of facing everything he’d done made him want to lash out, and he hadn’t meant to use the Force, but he did. He didn’t really do anything, just caused the craft they were on to shake horribly which thoroughly scared the nurse. She quickly fled to safety, but his father’s co-pilot didn’t move from his post as he watched over him.

He was about to lash out, strong and fierce to get him off this craft even it was his only true home, but he couldn’t do it. Chewie could have killed him after what he did to his father, being a sharp shooter and all, but instead he’d merely wounded his side as retribution. Did that mean he didn’t hate him? Or, at least didn’t hate him the way Ben hated himself?

Before he could make a rash decision, a voice broke through his whirling mind. It was his name and it was Rey, his better half that scurried up the ramp. She dropped down next to him, touching his arm carefully.

“Ben, are you ok?” she asked, her voice laced with nothing but concern.

His hands left their spots on the ships floor to grab at her, needing to feel some sort of comfort in his haze of anger, shame, and sadness. He grabbed her bare arms, probably tighter than he should have, but she didn’t voice a complaint. He shook his head, “Rey…”

Closing his eyes, he pressed forward with his mind. _Chewie… I can’t face him…_

He watched her glance from him to the Wookie before back again. _What do you mean? He cares for you._

Just as he was about to push his next thought on her, it was abruptly cut short as more bodies came piling aboard the ship. His head whipped towards them all, letting his hands fall loose from her arms because of who it was. He couldn’t, wouldn’t let any of them see him in this freaked out state. Chewie was different because he’d known him for years; had been there during the diaper changes, the tantrums, his moody phase that he never truly grew out of, all of it.

He was faced with the bodies of Rey’s coworkers and friends: the traitor, the pilot, and a female he didn’t recognize. Steeling his face, he narrowed his eyes at them, being sure not to show any sign of weakness. If he were to show his belly, then he no idea what any of them would do to him. It didn’t matter if they were friends with Rey, they weren’t anywhere close to being acquaintances let alone friends with him.

The unknown female laid eyes on him, but didn’t show any real disgust towards him while the two males had only disgust on their faces. Fighting not to sneer, he felt Rey’s thumb brushing his sweater gently.

“It’s ok,” Rey said gently from beside him. “He just fell out of bed.”

Feeling the unease settle over the small space at Rey’s blatant lie, Ben clenched his hands into tight fists before feeling Rey run her hand down his arm to touch one of his fisted hands. Even with her soothing touch, he couldn’t bring himself to settle down until someone else spoke.

“Hi,” the unknown girl mumbled, stepping closer. “I’m Rose. And, um, I don’t know much about injuries, but you should probably be in the bed with your leg.”

At first, he couldn’t tell if she joking or being serious because she was actually talking to him. She wasn’t backing down, cowering, or showing any signs of anger, she was just… _Talking_. He studied her carefully, taking in her small stature and round, soft face that was cradled by jet black hair. She’s what he’d consider ‘cute’ with her meek-like attitude and soft demeanor.

“ ‘You should rest’ ,” Chewie growled, but Ben couldn’t bring himself to acknowledge him without feeling sadness chased away by his anger.

“You should listen to him,” another, deep male voice came as more boots stomped up the ramp.

Ben’s eyes flicked up at that voice, knowing who would be attached to it. He watched as Lando strolled up the ramp, having almost as much sway in his step as his own father did. Gulping hard, he couldn’t help but mumble, “Lando?”

Just staring at the dark skinned man before him brought forth other painful memories and had him subconsciously backing himself against the wall of the ship. At this point, he was outnumbered by people he’d hurt over the years. Rey was among them as well, but with the way her hand touched his, he knew that she was on his side.

Lando flicked his eyebrows up at him before scooping down to grab the datapad that was left unattended on the ground, scrolling through it carelessly. “Wow…” he trailed and glanced to Ben’s exposed leg which had the younger man fidgeting slightly under his strong glare. “Now that, that’s not an injury you see every day.”

“It doesn’t hurt,” Ben lied, feeling pain throbbing at where the metal leg joined his knee. Even though it was joined together forever, he wasn’t used to it and he bet his leg would be swollen tomorrow.

Rey quickly spoke next, looking down at his leg, “What happened? Why didn’t the nurse get me? I could of…”

“You couldn’t have done anything, my dear,” Lando spoke as he flipped through what must have been the x-ray’s. “Unfortunately, with the amount of dead tissue, his leg was already a goner before we even got back here.”

“Then why did you stop me back there?” she snapped harshly and gave him the dirtiest look she could muster.

Ben’s eyes flicked between his uncle and his love, uncurling his fist to grab her hand, “Hey… If you healed me back there then you could’ve died. If you died again, then I don’t think I could have lived with myself.”

“I don’t know how you can live with yourself now…” a deep voice came and Ben immediately honed in on where the pilot stood, his arms crossed over his chest.

“Poe,” the traitor chastised and gave him a hard look. “I thought you said you’d give him a chance?”

The pilot, now named Poe, rolled his eyes and huffed to himself. Out of curiosity, Ben skirted the edges of Poe’s mind finding contempt laced with something he didn’t quite know. Then, much to his surprise, the man scratched at his head. Did Poe somehow feel him? Only Force sensitive people could feel when Ben was poking around the outskirts.

“Poe…” Rey spoke in a serious voice before more boots sounded on the ramp and Ben truly felt pathetic, surrounded by Resistance fighters as he sat down on his butt with a wrecked leg.

“General Poe, General Finn, the commanders are ready for you,” an unknown man said before he turned and ran back the way he’d come.

“Duty calls,” Poe shrugged and slapped FN2187, with the new name of Finn, on the shoulder.

Finn shook his head before looking to Rey, “You’re coming right? We need to discuss a way to combat First Order sympathizers.”

“I should stay here,” Rey said and settled those rich brown eyes on Ben’s. The intensity that she was looking at him with had his mouth run dry and his legs feel weak. Well, weaker than they are now.

“I think…” Lando trailed and set the datapad down on the bed where Ben had been laying. “You should go with them. A Jedi helping decide their fate would probably be the best thing right now. You know the whole balance thing and will help to maintain that. In the meantime, Chewie and I will take Ben to get him settled in the barrack room I had assigned to him.”

As much as Ben hated that thought of having to face both Chewie and Lando alone, he knew that what Lando said made sense. When he felt Rey about to argue, he squeezed her hand and spoke up, “Go. The galaxy needs you.”

She sighed and nodded her head, “I will meet you afterward. I promise.” She then brushed a hand through his hair before standing up and making her way from the Falcon with Rose, Finn, and Poe. Out of those 3 that left with her, only Rose turned back to wave at him as she departed.

Now… It was just him and his uncle’s… Alone…

Ben couldn’t help but shift uncomfortably under their stares before Lando finally broke the silence. He leaned against the bunk, grinning slightly, “I remember this one time, Leia had been fighting to get you to stay still in the bath and then I had come in the house. You jumped right out of that tub and ran right up to me, stark naked, to give me the biggest hug you could.”

Ben immediately felt a flush spreading up his neck, touching his cheeks, and affecting his ears as he felt embarrassment settle over him as he relieved that memory. He then started to pick at the sleeves of his sweater as he tried not to feel subconscious, “I was a lot younger then, Lando.”

“You know, there was a time when you’d call me Unca Wanwo…” his uncle trailed and Ben shook his head. Lando only winked at him, “I’ll let it slide this once, little Starfighter.”

Ben closed his eyes, pressing his thumb and pointer finger into his eyes to keep the tears back. When he blinked them open, he finally raised his head, “You know that I’m sorry. For everything I’ve done. For all the killing, the fighting, and for my father.”

“ ‘We know’ ,” Chewie growled.

Ben nodded his head, and searched the ground for what to say next. The hunk of metal beneath him though didn’t give him any insight of what to say in a situation like this, so he left it to Lando. The man was a lot like his father in enjoying the sound of his own voice, which allowed Ben to slink back into the shadows.

“Kid,” Lando started, stepping closer to him and Ben had to fight not to flinch away. “I think I speak for myself and Chewie when I say that we forgive you.”

Ben could feel his eyes stinging with the tears that wanted to come as his uncle extended his hand. His own hand hesitated for only a second before he clasped them together and was hauled to his feet. At first he was unsteady, not comfortable putting any weight on this new attachment, but Lando held one of his shoulders to help.

Then, much to his surprise, Lando pulled him even closer until his arms wrapped firmly around his wide shoulders. He hadn’t realized how much bigger he was than his uncle now, ducking his head down slightly at the embrace in order to wrap his own arms around him. With two solid thumps on his back, Lando pulled back with a, “I’m glad you’re ok and you’re here.”

Ben tightened his lips together before another, much hairy body came forward. Despite his height and width, Chewie’s body enveloped his and with that, everything finally came crashing down in powerful waves. Feeling his fur sent him back to his childhood when he could remember playing with his own tiny Chewie in his bedroom, taking good care of his toy.

As he buried his face in his fur, he let the tears slip out of his eyes and trail down his cheeks. His body racked slightly against the bigger man as he tried to get control of his emotions. When he tried to pull back to compose himself, his uncle refused to let him go, resting a large paw to keep his head tucked into him. And so… Ben finally let it all out and clutched at his fur, sobbing like a child into him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't hate me please! I LOVE BEN!! But I thought it would be poetic for him to lose his leg, like how Anakin lost his limbs and Luke lost his hand! The Skywalker men can just never get a break!


	4. Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the kudos!!!!  
> I'm not too impressed with this chapter, at least some parts, but I hope you guys enjoy!  
> Once again, my keyboard is fighting me... Sigh... Please inform me if letters are missing because at this point I'm pretty much copy-pasting letters in!  
> Also! I love updating every week because it keeps me on a schedule, but with school and life hitting me I'm not sure I can... I will certainly try my best! :)

Rey would be lying if she said she understood all that was being said in this meeting. Usually, she wasn’t one for getting distracted, but with Ben being the way that he was… He had looked pitiful on the floor of the Falcon, only one good leg sprawled out with his chin trembling when she’d come aboard. It was utterly heartbreaking to see him in that state.

“Rey,” Poe said, his voice laced with aggravation which made her think of how many times he’d had to say her name. “What is your status? How are you?”

She straightened herself in her seat, removing her foot from where it was propped up on one of the tables. Clearing her throat, “Fine. I suspect I’m not back to normal, but I assure you General that I will be soon.”

“Good,” he said with a curt nod. “We will need the Jedi to help spread peace and maintain the balance.”

“I believe…” Finn started before another voice came, this one was sharp.

“The rumor, what about that?” Rey’s head swiveled to get a look at who it was, but another voice came from the other side of the room.

“Is it true that Kylo Ren is here?” this voice was feminine and sounded vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t see them as people got to their feet and began to voice their own complaints.

“He’s a monster!”

“He murdered Han!”

“What?” Rey asked and pushed herself up as well, even though her voice was still drowned out by the yelling that kept coming.

“Pushed his own mother to death!”

“He’s a Vader alright!”

Her eyes frantically searched for Finn and Poe, seeing Finn wave his hands in an attempt to calm everyone. Her eyes even danced back at where Maz stood, looking at where everyone was arguing without making a move to stop it. The voices persisted, until Poe put his fingers to his lips and let loose a loud, shrill whistle that had everyone snapping their mouths closed.

“Is he not General Leia’s son?” he spoke in a firm, yet sincere voice. “I know firsthand what he’s capable of, but had it not been for him then Rey would be dead. I understand your apprehension towards him, hell, I don’t really even know him. Still, he helped us win this fight and restore hope to the galaxy. At the very least, we can give him a chance. Perhaps with two Jedi’s, then hope will be restored to those who have none.”

Rey was in shock that those words had come from Poe with such sincerity, that when the meeting ended she was sure to find him. “Poe,” she said and watched as he turned towards her, crossing his arms over his chest. Toeing her boot against the floor, “I wanted to thank you. For that. I know that you didn’t have to.”

Poe dropped his head with a sigh, running his hand through his sleek hair, “Finn and I discussed him last night, in between the drinks. While I don’t agree with him being here because I don’t believe he’s changed, I do believe that Leia would have wanted him here, so…”

“I’m glad you still listen to someone,” Rey jested before she sensed something wasn’t quite right with him. Nudging him, “Everything alright?”

Poe rubbed his eyes and she noted the bags that were there, “I think I just drank too much last night is all. Anyway, no rush, but when will you go back to practicing? After killing Palpatine, does that make you a Jedi?”

“That does not make me a Jedi, but I believe I’m closer to being one than I ever have been,” she said with a smile before touching his arm gently. “Get some rest, _General_.”

“That’s what I keep telling him,” Finn said, coming up and slapping his hands on Poe’s shoulders. He rubbed them as he peeked around his friend, “Though it could be because of all of the fire-water. After he got thoroughly wasted, he was muttering all this nonsense about Zorii I assume.”

“That’s not what you think it is,” Poe defended, not reaching to stop where Finn was massaging him. “Zorii and I are…”

“Spice runners?” Rey joked and watched as Poe gave her a look, making her smile at him. “Well, if that’s all, I do need to check on Ben.”

“You might want these,” Finn said, stopping her mid-turn, holding out Leia’s and Anakin’s lightsabers.

In all of the commotion, she had completely forgotten about them and grabbed them greedily, “Thank you, peanut.” Giving her a mock salute, he wrapped an arm around Poe’s shoulders and tugged him off while she went in search of Lando. He had been the one to take Ben to his room after all.

Jogging up to where he fiddled with the Falcon, “Hey, Lando…”

“Barracks 3,” he said simply. “Room 20.”

As he turned to look at her, she shrugged her shoulders sheepishly, “Am I that transparent?”

“Only a little,” he said with a wink before looking back to his toolbox and digging out another wrench.

“How is he?” she asked and tucked her hands holding the sabers behind her back.

Lando chuckled slightly, “The Ben I know. He’s already picked up walking with his new leg, though he still might struggle. He doesn’t say much either, which that has never changed. He’s also a lot better at reading everybody else’s minds instead of his own.” He must have felt Rey’s confusion because he turned back to her, his new wrench daggling loosely in his hand. “You see, as a child, he was already skilled at reading everybody’s outer thoughts and emotions. It used to drive Han nuts because he couldn’t block him out like Leia could. Out of all of his abilities, that’s still the one he’s best at. Even excelling past Luke in that aspect. Listening and understanding. I guess with parents who both loved to hear themselves talk, you learn to listen and not say anything.”

Seeming to be done with this conversation, he turned back towards the ship and pulled out another wrench. Taking her leave, she scurried towards Ben’s room. Counting down the numbers till she got to his room, she raised her hand to knock.

“You can come in Rey,” Ben’s voice came from the other side of the door.

She smiled to herself at the fact that he knew she was here before turning the knob and opening the door. As she opened it and stepped into the room, she froze. She was met with the long, muscled extent of his back as he tugged a white shirt over his head. Standing there, she tried not to gape as he pulled it down, covering his back and the huge bruise that took up nearly the whole left side of his back. It was a sick color of black and blue which looked unusually painful and before she had a chance to ask if it hurt, he turned around as he adjusted his shirt.

It was more of a cream colored shirt with buttons at the top of his chest, which weren’t buttoned at all. Long sleeves stretched down his strong arms, but he pushed them up to his elbows to show off his veins that were bulging down his forearms. As he began to tuck his shirt into his black pants, his wet black hair flopped onto his forehead.

She knew she was staring, but she couldn’t help herself. He truly looked more like his father now that he ever did, but also strangely Ben. He was mix of himself and Han, rolled into one massive package.

“There was no hot water,” he said, popping his head up to brush his luxurious hair back. It slicked back easily, the wetness keeping it back from his face.

“There never is,” she mumbled ducking her head to hide her blush, firmly closing her mind from his. Remembering herself, “Your back…”

One of his shoulders popped upwards in a half shrugged, “Nothing broken surprisingly, just a massive bruise.” He then wiped a water drop that hung just under his bottom lip away with his thumb and she shifted at that movement.

She couldn’t help but remember the way she’d kissed him and the way he had taken her into his arms, kissing her back in a passionate, yet unpracticed way. It made her face flush a brighter shade of pink and her stomach to clench at the mere thought of doing that again. Shaking her head, she looked towards his open wardrobe, “Where did you get the clothes?”

“Chewie,” Ben shrugged as he walked over towards it, only a slight limp showing as he moved.

“How’s the leg?” she asked, feeling the guilt pool where her previous want had been.

Ben’s eyes turned to her, gentle and understanding, “It’s fine. There might be some swelling after the first few days, but overall there’s nothing more than a dull throb.” She nodded her head, looking down to toe at the ground once again. Then, there was a presence looming over her, causing her to crane her neck to look up at him. His mouth quirked funny, “There’s nothing you could have done. If you had tried to heal me in the state you were in, you would have just given my life back to me. You would have died. Again.”

“I could have done something. Anything. Begged the…” she trailed off because even when she’d begged all the Jedi over all the years they had existed, none of them had come to help. It was only Leia.

She watched as his head cocked to the side, the strands along his face falling a little into his vision at the movement. Putting both sabers in one hand, it allowed her to reach up to brush it back with a smile, letting her see his dark brown eyes that sucked her in like a black hole. As they seemed to study each other, the tension began to build between them and she couldn’t help but notice him take a small step towards her.

Her eyes widened at the intimacy, dropping her hand to grab at a saber and hold it up directly in front of his face, “I forgot to give you this.”

He jerked his head back slightly as the saber jabbed up into his space before his eyes flicked back to hers, “This one is yours. It chose you.”

“Well, not really…” Rey trailed and pulled up another one, flinging her hands around awkwardly as she spoke. “It really chose both of us on Snoke’s ship. It didn’t know which side to land on, so I thought that since it had originally been yours before I came along… Plus, I have Leia’s. Oh blast! Perhaps you want your mother’s.” Holding both out to him, she switched between which one she held out to him and pulled back towards herself.

It was only when his massive hands rested on her tiny ones, did she stop this movement. “I think… You should take my mother’s. She would want you to have it. I’ll take my grandfather’s.”

Letting him take it from her grasp, she couldn’t help her curiosity, “Did you, um, feel any Jedi when you…?”

He tested the weight of his new saber in his hand, not looking up at her as he studied it. “I did not feel anyone other than my mother. She was… Hugging me…”

Rey felt her chest constrict in sadness because even after all those years of begging for his grandfather to talk to him, he wouldn’t even do it to save his life. Looking down at where she held Leia’s, she debated on telling him such a thing. Just as she opened her mouth to tell him the truth, his stomach rumbled and the thought hit her, “When was the last time you ate?”

His eyes jumped to hers before the ceiling as he merely shrugged, “I can’t remember…”

Hooking Leia’s saber onto her belt, she waved her hand at him, “Let’s go and get you some food. It’s probably nearly dinner anyway.”

As she turned away, taking a few steps, she didn’t hear him following her or making any move to follow her for that matter. Looking over her shoulder at him, she saw him flipping the saber end over end. Lowering her wall, she reached out towards his mind which had his head snapping up to her face as he allowed her entry. Even with her in his head, he seemed to be shuffling thoughts around to keep them hidden from her. Maybe Lando had been right.

“Right about what?” he asked out loud, letting his head fall to the side again in confusion. Damn this connection. She quickly shut her mind from him as he continued to stare at her, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly before he spoke again, “Why’re you nervous?”

“Why aren’t you coming?” she retorted with a cheeky grin before reaching her hand out towards him. “Come on.”

Setting Anakin’s saber down on his small table, he reached his own hand out, letting it almost engulf hers completely as she tugged him from the room. They walked down the hall at a good pace even though he was limping slightly as he moved, but he wasn’t complaining. It was about halfway to the cantina that she noticed he wasn’t wearing shoes, his bare foot and metal one seeming to stay in time with hers as they walked.

“My foot is fine,” he said immediately after that thought popped up into her head and she realized that she’d let her shields down.

It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him, but there were some things that she didn’t want him knowing. With their connection, they already felt and heard basically everything the other had going on inside their head, but she now understood what Lando meant. Ever since he’d been with her and on this base, he seemed to know all of her thoughts and where she was. He seemed to excel at getting in other people’s heads every second of the day. The thought both scared and thrilled her.

When they walked into the cantina, silence spread around those already at tables as they turned to look at them. Not only was their mortal enemy here, but he was holding hands with their Jedi. Rey offered them all a tight smile, tugging Ben easily to where the trays were and held one out to him. He took it in a tight grip, waving his hand for her to go first and so they moved through the line easily to grab what they wanted.

Once their trays were filled, she led him to where there was an empty table for fear of setting anybody here off. As they eased down, she immediately picked up her spoon and began the conquest of her tray. After about the fifth spoonful into her full mouth, she felt eyes on her and looked to see Ben staring at her.

His posture was perfect compared to her hunched shoulders to protect her food and he held a fork and knife in their respected hands. At first, she felt self-conscious in the way she was eating and wiped her mouth on the back of her hand as she forced the food down her throat in a painful gulp, but she felt out towards his mind which he let her slip inside of easily. Instead of mocking or disgust, there was adoration as he gave her an almost smile before looking down at his own food.

Wiping her mouth again, she resumed her shoveling before another body plopped down across from her.

“Hey Rey and Ben,” Rose offered with a genuine smile before her eyes settled solely on Ben. “How are you settling in? I see you showered. Sorry about the no hot water thing, I’m working on it. It’s very hard though with all the bodies on base, you know?”

“It’s fine, Rose. Thank you,” he said before dropping his eyes to his tray and cutting at some of his meat.

Two more bodies came down, sitting next to each other and Rey spoke around her mouthful, “Hey, peanut.”

Finn gave her a wink and a clicking noise before his eyes shifted to where Ben sat, studying him as he focused on cutting his meat like it was the most important thing in the world. The older man’s eyes flicked across the table to look at their trays, but never raised to actually look at them.

Rey looked from Ben to Finn, seeing the younger of the two lick his lips before clearing his throat, “Ben.”

Ben’s head snapped up in surprise at being talked to before he mumbled out, “Um… “It’s Finn now, right?”

“Better than what Hux gave me,” Finn said coldly to which Ben just nodded his head in agreement, looking down as he forked a bite into his mouth carefully.

“Yeah… Numbers as names don’t work here in the Resistance,” Poe said bitingly.

Rey felt it hard then, the small ripple and turned to see Ben looking at him while his head was still downcast. His teeth worked at his lower lip before raising his head and swallowing hard, “Finn is a good name. You should be proud.”

He then turned slightly away from the rest of them as Rose reached over and slapped Poe on the back of the head.

“You just hit your General,” Poe muttered out, leaning across Finn.

“I did. Want me to do it again?” Rose asked and did the same thing, the two of them inches apart before Finn cleared his throat and the two backed off.

Rey shook her head because at least Rose was trying, even if he scared her still. Pulling her eyes away from them, she watched as Ben chewed his food as his eyes moved around the room at lightning speed. Her brow furrowed slightly before she realized that he was reading everybody. Deciding to hear what he heard, she reached out.

It took some wiggling, but she had slipped into one man’s mind at the table next to them. She quickly yanked herself out at the hateful thoughts that swirled around his head. He had a very different plan for where Ben should spend tonight and the rest of his nights.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t a doubt in her mind that Ben had seen it too and that’s what upset her the most. Why did he have to have a gift like that? Reaching her hand out, she touched Ben’s arm gently and he turned back towards her. She offered him a small smile, and while he allowed her complete access to his mind, he didn’t smile back at her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I know Valentine's Day is still a week away, but I wanted to know if some of you would like a chapter on that day? I mean, I for one have absolutely no plans and will probably spend it reading fanfics anyway! If you guys want a chapter on that day then feel free to let me know and I will try my best!


	5. Sleeping

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the love!! I also wanted to say that this chapter isn't my best work, but I wanted to at least put something up today. As promised though, it is 2,201 words longs! I will also be posting a chapter on V-Day, so keep an eye out for that!  
> As always, please let me know if I'm missing letters or any corrections you think I should make! :)

It was hard to sleep, tossing and turning in a foreign bed where he still felt like a prisoner. Every time he’d close his eyes and feel himself drifting off, one of three things would happen. At first, he felt the darkness that swept over him before his mother had saved him which would jolt him awake. After assessing that he was indeed alive, he’d settle down once more and try for sleep.

The next thing that woke him was the voices that swirled around his head, the same voices he’d heard all his life. Snapping his eyes wide open once more and then coming to realize they weren’t real because they had already killed Palpatine before trying again. The next time, he could feel the cruel instruments that were used on him by Snoke and he would practically scream himself awake.

Rubbing his sweaty brow, his chest heaved as he stretched out in his too big bed. It wasn’t that it was necessarily too big, but it just felt that way with how small he felt at night. His eyes darted around the room, imaging things that could come from the darkness and swallow him whole if they felt so inclined. Even if he was too old to believe in such beasts, other things tended to grow in the dark that would stretch out until it consumed everything in its path. He knew all about that first hand.

Throwing the thin blanket from his body, he sat on the edge of the bed and ran a strong hand through his hair to brush it off his forehead. The room was windowless and he had forgotten to ask for a chrono from Chewie, which kept him from knowing the time of night or day. In fact, his room was so bare that he didn’t even have a lamp, leaving him with no light in his room at the moment. He had to use his senses to tell him where everything was. As he sat there, he couldn’t help but wonder if everybody’s was this way. What did Rey’s room look like?

Deciding to just get up because sleep wasn’t coming, he moved towards his wardrobe to grab out some clothes to throw on. Pulling out some underwear and the black cotton pants and white cotton shirt from yesterday from where they were folded and tucked away like all the rest before he closed the door. He also made the point to grab the boots that were tucked in there as well. At this point, he just wanted to not look at this fake foot anymore, so covering it with anything would make him much more comfortable.

Once he clothed his bare body, since he didn’t like sleeping in clothes, he slipped from his room and quietly made his way down the hallway. He didn’t know the layout of the base, but from the small tour he’d been given when taken to his room and the cantina it gave him just enough knowledge to get around.

He stepped into said cantina, finding a couple crumpets, grabbing them and munching on them as he explored. The base was huge, more than half of it underground while the rest were the tall structures that laid on this forgotten planet. He didn’t know this planets name, so he had no way of figuring out what happened to the natives here. After the years of fighting though, he feared the worst.

As he rounded a corner, he saw a couple of people lounging around who he suspected were supposed to be guards on duty. Most of them were already asleep and the few that weren’t appeared to be playing some kind of card game, tension clear in how they hunched forward. None of them seemed to notice him slink backwards into the dark as he crossed the room. Perhaps sneaking around wasn’t the best idea, but he was tired of hearing what everyone thought of him.

Some thoughts were things as simple as him leaving this planet and never coming back. A few were a little more creative with thinking of the execution that would be around the corner from none other than Rey. One man though, had thought of burying him alive and listening to him yell as he clawed at the metal container that would hold him. All of those were bad, he had to admit, but the worse ones came from General Poe.

That man had a very active imagination of all the torture he would inflict on him, all the various metal devices that would tear into his skin and make him scream the way Ben had made him. His mind would get darker the longer he was in Ben’s presence and he would think of injecting him with a synthetic drug to decrease his pain threshold, allowing the piercing of his skin to drive the man insane. Oddly enough though, he would quickly snap himself out of that when he thought of the way Finn rescued him and he would feel nothing but guilt for the dark turn his mind had taken.

Not only that, but he had told Rey that he had one chance and if he messed it up, then he didn’t even want to know what would happen to him. So instead of acting on any of this anger that came up at the way people felt about him, he shook it off because he was different now.

As he chewed on another crumpet, he rounded the corner and nearly ran into another man that must have also been on guard. The man jumped slightly and Ben held his hand up, showing he meant no harm, “Didn’t mean to scare you.” He had spoken the words innocently and in the meekest way possible, trying to convey that he wasn’t a threat to this man.

At first, the man’s face was freaked out before it hardened and Ben didn’t need to go into his mind to know the gist of his thoughts. Still, it was habit and he immediately regretted going inside there with the darkness that swirled outward, and all the ways he pictured him to suffer. One of which stood out, having him strapped down to a table where this man would carve into his skin.

He flinched back and the man smiled a disgusting smile with a, “I thought you’d enjoy that.”

Ben felt disgusted that the man knew he’d go in there and see what he saw, just to rub it in his face.

“Fitting after everything you’ve done.”

There was no argument from Ben about that because he’d done plenty of stuff to who he thought were his enemies. This man though, thought about doing it to him as Rey watched. This man was sick and Ben wanted to get as far away from him as possible. He tried to sidestep the man, needing to get out of this situation before he saw this man doing anything to his love.

This man though, obviously wasn’t done with him, stepping back in his way, “Where’re you off to anyway, _Kylo_?”

“I was having a hard time sleeping. My leg is throbbing,” he settled on after running several different options through his head in a matter of seconds.

“You poor thing…” the man trailed and looked down at his legs, obviously trying to figure out which leg it was that he was missing. Word had spread quickly after he’d been seen with his new leg at dinner last night. “Now you know what it’s like for the rest of us thanks to you.”

Ben nodded his head, forcing himself to stay out of his mind no matter how pressing it was, “I should go.”

“So soon?” he asked and showed another disgusting smile. “We’re playing sabacc. Wasn’t that your father’s favorite?”

Ben couldn’t help it as the fear that had settled in him at the thought of what this guy could do to Rey slowly turned to anger at the mention of his father, as if the two had been friends. He squeezed his hands into tight fists, trying to rein in the Force that wanted to surge out of him and attack this man. Even trying to center himself didn’t stop the light bulb above them from beginning to shake slightly as he stared the man down.

The man actually grinned at that, “What are you going to do, Ren?” His eyes flicked over Ben’s face before he actually brought his hand up and smacked him on the side of the head. His ears rang as he stood there resolute, not giving this man anything else he could use as fuel. Still, the bulb above their heads surged from darkness to intense light as he kept the Force in check.

“You should be tried and executed for your crimes against the galaxy,” the man snarled out. “If I was General, you’d be dead already. Dead and buried in some unmarked grave where nobody would ever find you. Not that anybody would ever care to find you.” Then, raising his hand again, it collided with the side of his head, this one jostling him. The light went out at first for a few seconds before surging bright, making both of them squint against the harsh light.

“That’s what I thought,” the man said and got even closer to him, letting him smell the alcohol lingering on his breath. “You’re nothing here.” The man then chuckled under his breath and shouldered past him, leaving Ben standing alone in the hall.

The light continued to surge above him before he let it out, the bulb bursting and shattering glass around him. He danced away from the heated glass with grace before breathing in and out carefully. This whole being good thing was hard when everyone was just standing around waiting for you to slip up.

When he would come into a room, people would hold their breath to wait and see if he’d slaughter the younglings here. Or maybe see him lose it and attack Rey or either of the General’s. He was a monster in their eyes, all of them waiting however long it took for him to remember that.

Joke was on them though. He knew that he was still a monster somewhere down inside. The difference was that he wasn’t going to let his monster out to hurt anyone anymore, even if it killed him.

The one comment stuck with him though. Him being tried for his crimes against the galaxy. That was a possibility with how people here hated him. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a doubt in his mind that he could be found guilty and executed for the terror he had brought upon innocent people.

Feeling utter defeat, he made his way out of the base, walking into the darkened woods. Slumping himself down onto the ground, he listened to the nocturnal animals as they scampered around doing whatever nature intended them to do. When he laid back, he reached out, letting himself be consumed by their simple minds as he relaxed and tried to calm himself after the incident that had just occurred.

Spreading himself out on his back, with his arms and legs outstretched, he decided to try something he hadn’t tried in many years. He closed his eyes, breathed in and out to center himself, before he attempted to reach out towards the Force. He felt out for the part that was balance, just as his uncle Luke had taught him. Of course the light had been the preferred side, but Luke had told him it was hard to meditate on the light for some Padawan’s, so instead, try and focus on balance. Focus on the push and pull of life.

Sure, he could manipulate the Force and use it to his every whim and will, but when he tried to meditate on it he seemed to run smack dab into a brick wall. No matter how hard he pressed against it, it wouldn’t crumble down. The light was an even harder challenge, not giving him an inch of relief. That’s why it had been so easy to slip to the dark side, because light and balance were both giving him too much resistance. As a young man, the path of least resistance had been the easiest choice since it proved easy to infiltrate and get whatever he desired.

He could feel frustration building up inside of him before he gave up on meditating on the Force. His mind instead switched to something else, or rather, someone else. Her brown hair that was pulled back from he’d soft face into those cute little buns that made him want to reach out and tug one just to see her reaction. Her chocolate brown eyes that melted him with one glance, made all of his logic fly out the window even if he was good at hiding it.

As he thought about her, he could feel peace settle over him and relax him. He felt as if he was sinking into the ground, becoming one with this planet and it was an odd, thrilling sensation that had him snuggling into the grass contently.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For one: I totally think he sleeps naked! ;)
> 
> And for two: I didn't want to go too much into the whole torture thing, even though I could, because I wasn't really feeling it...


	6. Busted

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Valentine's Day everyone!  
> So, this chapter was going to be slightly different, but after a wonderful comment, I changed it! Hope you all enjoy! Now, if you'll excuse me, Evak is calling my name!!

It had been a week. One whole kriffing week since the destruction of the Sith, the battle of Exogal, and Ben returning to the light. All the while everything seemed to be going back to normal, except for her Ben. The bags under his eyes seemed to be getting worse, his inability to sleep was evident on his face only. They had picked back up with lite training, letting him get used to his new leg and her still recovering from using every bit of the Force she had in her. Even with exhaustion clearly present, he still moved and worked like he always did; with everything he had.

After a long running session, him only lagging behind her by barely anything, they piled into the cantina and slumped down at the table of their friends. It was dinner time and she wasted no time scarfing down her food while everyone around the table talked amongst themselves about their duties they had gotten back into the swing of. It was mostly fixing ships from Rose and Mikka, who now joined them, and General-like duties from Finn and Poe.

Meanwhile, she was sore, her muscles aching from the working, but in a good way. Glancing to where Ben cut his meat up in correct sized bites, she saw his brow furrowed in serious concentration. There was no way his meat was that interesting, so she nudged him, “Everything ok?”

The others at the table closed their mouths and looked at him, giving this new line of questioning their full attention. Ben glanced to her, raising his brows, “Fine.” His eyes then settled back on his food before his eyes glanced up suddenly at someone who was apparently making their way over, causing him to shift uncomfortably in his seat and edge closer to where she sat.

The man plopped down across from Ben with a, “Hey Mikka.”

“Hey Jerome,” she responded before scooping some oats into her mouth. “How’s the electricity?”

“The usual,” he shrugged before his eyes settled on Ben. “There have been a few bulbs that have burst recently though. It’s weird.”

Rey saw Ben move his hands from his tray to his lap, clenching them into tight fists. She watched as Ben shifted uncomfortably before she felt his mind surge into her head so fast that she winced and grabbed it, feeling the sharp sting start at the very center of her forehead and spreading outwards.

“Rey,” Ben started and turned towards her, touching her arm gently. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean…” She waved him off before she heard him in her head, _He makes me uncomfortable… His mind is…_

“Is what, hon?” Rey asked, not realizing she’d spoken aloud until Finn and Poe spoke up.

“Is what?” Finn questioned as Poe spoke, “Hon?”

Her eyes widened and she looked to Ben apologetically while he flushed a bright shade of red, his face downcast as he ran a hand through his hair. Picking up his utensils once more, he forked a piece of meat into his mouth as he completely ignored their questions. Then, Jerome chuckled slightly at the interaction.

“You didn’t know he gets in everyone’s heads?” he asked and Ben’s head popped back up, his mouth twisting into something unkind as the man stared him down once more. “He does it all the time. But he won’t do anything, will you?”

Rey could feel the man trying to bait Ben into doing something, trying to get a rise out of him in front of everyone as the whole cantina fell silent to listen in. Before she had a chance to say anything, Rose understood this and spoke first, “And? It’s not like you have anything interesting up there. Ben doesn’t need to waste his time on you anyway. He’s twice the man you’ll ever be!”

“You sure there’s nothing interesting up here?” he spoke and tapped his head. Seconds later, Ben’s tray was vibrating as the lights around the whole room began to flicker sporadically. His whole body was shaking and Rey could feel his anger rolling off him in waves, it was so strong that Finn pulled himself backwards from Ben. Rey quickly grabbed Ben’s cup of water, pulling it in towards herself.

Through gritted teeth, Ben spoke, “You’re disgusting.” Somehow, he managed to compose himself long enough to say, “I’m a prince of Alderaan and you will not get me to give that up.”

“That’s enough!” Poe cried, dropping his spoon with food on it which sent some flying onto the table. “Jerome, submit yourself for disciplinary action. Here at the base we do not goad each other into a fight. Go now. To Lando.”

Jerome looked at him, clearly shocked before closing his mouth with a sharp click of his teeth, “Yes, sir.” He then pushed himself up, shoving his tray into Ben’s before storming from the cantina.

Once he left the room, Rey touched his arm, “What was that?”

“That man is vile…” Ben muttered out. _What I wouldn’t give to keep him from thinking those things ever again._

“Whatever that man is,” Poe started and resumed spooning his bite into his mouth. “Is that true? Are you getting in people’s heads?”

Ben looked down at the table, guilt showing clearly in his eyes, “It’s a habit. I am trying to break it, but it’s hard.”

Poe shook his head angrily, “How am I supposed to be a General when my own people don’t listen to me? Whatever that man is, you’re just as bad. You wouldn’t be in this mess if you just kept to yourself with your weird Jedi mind druk.”

Rey watched as Ben look up and narrowed his eyes at Poe, studying him before growling, "Stop taking your sexual frustrations out on me."

She looked back and forth between Ben and Poe with wide eyes, seeing her friend's face pale exponentially while Ben's face was steely. Poe's mouth opened and closed a few times, trying to come up with a quick response. His usual witty remarks staying lodged inside his throat as Ben arched a careful brow sassily.

Taking his silence as a cue, Ben spoke again, "Instead of _performing the Jedi hand trick_ to the object of your affection, why don't you go for the real thing and stop hounding me?"

Poe's mouth dropped open, his face turning crimson before he set his jaw. "Did you go through my head?" He growled out. "You can't do that!"

Finally Rey intervened, gently grabbing Ben's arm, "You can't just go into someone else's head. That’s exactly what he’s trying to tell you. You just voiced a private thought of his about him… Doing his private stuff to everyone here. That’s not ok. How would you feel if I did something similar to you?"

Ben jerked his head to hers, his eyes widening and he pulled back away from her, “I don’t… That’s not… What??” His face was a bright pink that trailed down his neck and she felt a wall slam against her mind, Ben keeping her from him. He then waved his hand towards Poe and spoke, “I wouldn’t think he’d let me in so easily anyway. Come on, with a mind like his.” As everyone stared at him curiously, he mumbled, “He’s Force-sensitive. Did none of you know that?”

Everyone stared at him wide eyed for a second before Poe actually chuckled, “I am not.” As Ben stared at him, not laughing, Poe spoke again, “What?”

“Are you serious?” Rey asked and looked from Poe to Ben curiously. “How have I not felt it?”

To which Ben shrugged before he settled his eyes on Poe, “Look, I’m… Sorry. I shouldn’t have voiced your solo endeavors to everyone here. That was not very princely of me. I will also try a lot harder at staying out of people’s heads, General.”

Poe’s mouth moved wordlessly again as he stared at the larger man before nodding his head, “It’s ok. I, uh, accept your apology. I also, uh, appreciate your trying.”

“This is good progress,” Rose chirped.

Rey touched Ben’s arm gently and pushed his cup of water back towards him, offering a small shrug.

“It is,” Finn concluded. “I have to ask though, do you have your own endeavors, Solo?” Ben’s face heated up again as he ducked his head, raising his cup to his mouth and gulping the water down. Finn and Poe chuckled at that, Finn muttering, “I’ll take that as a yes.”

As quickly as she could, Rose smacked both boys on the backs of their heads to which Poe protested immediately, “Why didn’t you smack him?”

“Cause it was funny when he did it,” she shrugged before winking at where Rey laughed.

When they finished dinner, Rose, Poe, and Finn retired for a night of drinking. Apparently people were still partying about their win, and those three were not about to miss out. Meanwhile, she and Ben walked the corridors to her room. He was one of those guys that liked to walk her to her room every night and she couldn’t deny that she actually liked it.

Feeling confident, she reached a hand out and grabbed his, swinging their joined hands as they walked. They did this sometimes, her always being the one to initiate the hand holding. Even though he never smiled or voiced how much he liked it, she could always sense it within him and it would bring out her own happiness.

When they got to her room, he looked down at their hands and ran a thumb over hers as he licked his lips. Then, he did a weird bow that looked graceful, but completely uncomfortable. “Good night, lady,” he said with a playful look in his eyes.

She shook her head with a roll of her eyes, “How can you say that? I think we both know that you’re not going to be sleeping tonight. Come on Ben, be honest with me. What’s keeping you from sleeping?”

Ben shifted around on his feet, gingerly pulling his hand from hers, “Just… I don’t know… Not nightmares, but… Feelings. Of what’s happened over the years. I guess… I don’t know… Now that I’m not fully on the dark side, I’m reliving everything… It’s complicated… I actually have to listen to my conscience now…”

Rey breathed in and nodded her head, studying him closely as he shook his head slightly. It was as if he was clearing his mind, so she spoke, “Are you ok?”

“Yeah…” he said and touched his head, his eyes closing slightly before he snapped them back open. “I think I’m overly tired or something. I’ll um…”

“It’s fine,” Rey insisted and touched his arm carefully. “Go and try to rest. I’ll see you in the morning.”

He nodded his head before stepping closer and leaning down to press his lips quickly to her cheek which had her freeze in place because they hadn’t kissed since the battle. Ben didn’t seem to notice though as he sluggishly made his way from her room, down the hall towards where his own room was placed.

Once he turned the corner, she leaned back against her door with a sigh before fishing the small bottle out of her pocket. She looked down at the colorless liquid feeling guilt at what she’d done. Deep down she knew that she shouldn’t have put any of this in his drink, but he needed to sleep and this would knock him right out. His lack of sleeping wasn’t healthy for him to heal and replenish himself or to even function!

Ducking inside her own room, she shut the door and clicked the lock into place. She opened the drawer to her desk and placed it inside before shutting it with finality. Tomorrow they would work on him sleeping normally, but tonight he just need to get some rest.

After a quick shower and change of clothes, she fell into bed in a heap and was out almost immediately.

When morning came around, she sluggishly rolled herself out of bed and rubbed the eye boogers away. Cracking her neck, she stood up and stretched her arms as far upwards as she could, even standing on her toes. Dropping back down, she moved to her dresser and dug through the drawers messily until she produced a pair of tan shorts to put on. They came to about her knees and she didn’t bother changing from her white night shirt that hung around her body slightly.

As she moved into the bathroom to brush her teeth, she felt out for Ben with her mind. He was an early riser, though it could have been just because he wasn’t sleeping at all. Oddly enough though, she didn’t outright feel his mind reach back for hers. It took her a second to realize that this odd, buzzing come from him was actually him sleeping. If she could feel and hear this odd thing coming from him while he slept, did that mean that perhaps she could see what he dreamt about?

If she could, he certainly wasn’t dreaming now with the absence of thought coming from his head. As she tied her hair up, she poked her head out of the bathroom to check the time. It was 8 in the morning and she deemed that the two of them had certainly slept in long enough, so after slipping on her boots, she made her way to his room.

When she got to room 20, she gently knocked on the door. Feeling for his mind, she still heard the small buzzing noise and knocked a bit harder, “Ben?” She didn’t hear anything from his room or his mind for that matter, so instead of knocking, she just tried the handle. The knob turned easily in her hand and she shook her head with a smile as she stuck her head inside.

The room was dark and quiet, not even a snore coming from where he was laying. He was a large man, but perhaps she put just a little bit much in his water as she took some careful steps inside, “It’s Rey.”

When she got no response, she stepped the rest of the way into his room and shut the door quietly behind her. Blindly moving forward, she stumbled over his boots and his pants as she walked towards the nightstand. Apparently, his usually neat ways were forgotten last night because of his drugged state since her foot was now caught on another piece of fabric he had left on the floor.

As she got to the nightstand, she flicked the lamp on which cast an orange glow in this corner of the room and the bed. Looking at where he slept, she noted that he wasn’t even phased by the light. Picking at his mind again, the buzzing was still present which made her smile once again. Deciding not to wake him up just yet, she took this time to take him in.

His right arm was spread out across the bed while his left one was bent, resting on his pillow just above his head. His eyes were closed in sleep, flickering ever so slightly while his parted lips were slack as he breathed in and out deeply. His hair was splayed out wildly on the pillow while his bangs stuck in the sweat that clung to his forehead. His torso was exposed, the sheet stopping just below his waist, which allowed her to take in his muscled body. Even while sleeping, it was clearly evident that he did have an eight pack with how they and his pecks protruded.

She couldn’t help herself as her eyes danced over all of his face as well as all the skin he was currently showing. She took in all his moles, memorizing where they sat as well as the slight scar that sat on his face from their battle. The one under his eye had healed to almost nonexistence while he still sported the one under his bottom lip which reminded her of the one Han had on his chin.

Reaching a careful finger out, she began to draw lines between the skin blemishes that littered his face. His eyes fluttered with that, freezing her movement, but when they didn’t open, she let her finger trail down his face to his neck. Touching him was so much easier when he wasn’t awake because there was no judgement here. It didn’t matter that she knew he wouldn’t judge her, she just didn’t know if she could have done it under scrutinizing eyes.

After running her finger along his pulse point on his neck, she let it trail lower to his chest as she sat herself on the edge of the bed. Using her nail, she gently scratched small circles there to which he still didn’t wake. Smiling to herself, she brought her hand up and looped a strand of his hair around her finger, playing with the velvety strand.

Out of all the things she did, this got a rise out of him and he groaned as he stretched before blinking his eyes open. He was clearly still half asleep as he stared up her, squinting before licking his lips and not for the first time since they’d gotten back here, Rey wanted to lean in and kiss him. And when he stretched again, he reached his half-asleep mind out towards her and she felt a fuzzy warmth there that finally decided her choice for her.

Adjusting herself, she leaned over him and pressed her mouth to his. His lips were soft and plush against hers, and didn’t appear to kiss her back at first and she thought that maybe she’d made the wrong move. Just as she was about to pull away, she felt him kiss her back with just as much passion as he lifted his head to meet her mouth.

Gingerly, she felt for his mind which he gave her access to and she tried not to giggle about the fact that he thought he was dreaming. To try and help him understand that this was real, she poked at his mouth with her tongue. Kissing was new for her, and tongue kissing was something she’d never done. Still, he parted his lips, lifting his head up even more to meet her tongue with his. To be honest, there was a lot of saliva that swirled between them, but if wasn’t exactly unpleasant. This must have been his first time kissing with tongue as well she guessed.

Reaching for his mind again, she assured his unsure thoughts that this was indeed happening. Suddenly, he jerked upwards, slamming his head into hers as he scrambled backwards. She rubbed her head as he fell off the other side of his bed, which made her stand up to get a look at him.

As quickly as he’d fallen off the bed, did he pop back up to his feet and stare at her wide eye, “Rey… Um… What’re… Um…”

She could see his cheeks were enflamed, but her eyes didn’t stay there for long as they trailed down his body. They went from his pecks to his cleanly cuts abs then the sharp v of his hips that led even lower. Her mouth opened slightly at the sight before her, his cock was partially hard and impressively large. It didn’t strike her as the one that would hurt her large, but one that would fill her up in every way possible.

It was the same color as his skin, considering he never seemed to spend time in the sun, with a small patch of black hair around the base. He was cut, showing the sensitive head that had a twinge of pink to it, making it look as if it was blushing along with him. Before she could continue her adoration of his cock, his hands jumped to cover himself as he bent himself at the waist slightly.

His hands were large for a reason, covering what he was packing as he muttered, “What’re you doing in here?”

Rey forced herself to look at his face with raised brows, trying to determine what exactly she was doing in here. Why had she come in here again? The sight of his bare body and vulnerable appendage he kept hidden in his pants had made her mind go completely blank.

She did catch him studying her carefully before his blush spread further across his face, down his neck, and making his ears light up. In a pitch she’d never heard from him, “You need to stop thinking those things…”

She tried not to laugh at how high his voice had gone before waving her hand around, trying to clear the air and her mind, “I was…”

“You…” he started before clearing his throat, deepening his voice. “You drugged me?”

She felt her stomach drop at that because of course he would infiltrate her mind so easily to see what she had done to him. Opening her mouth and then closing it only allowed him to search her mind even longer.

“You thought it was a good idea because I wasn’t sleeping…” he trailed and searched the ground before shaking his head. “That doesn’t make it ok, Rey. You can’t just go around drugging people.”

Seeing that she had actually hurt him, she took a tentative step towards him, “Ben…”

“Rose is looking for you… You should go…” he muttered out, breathing in deeply.

Reaching for his mind, she felt that he wasn’t mad at her, only upset that she had done it without his knowledge. Nodding her head, not saying anything more, she walked towards the door and felt the wetness that had pooled between legs. As soon as she was outside the door, she couldn’t help the smile that came to her face. She had actually, literally, seen him naked. Maybe she’d have to bust into his room more often.


	7. Cold Shower

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone!!!!  
> So... I'm not too impressed with this chapter... Still, here you go!

Ben was thankful for the cold shower after the amazing wakeup call he’d had. The way her mouth had felt against his was enough to make his penis begin to stiffen. Now that he was in his room alone, he needed to cool himself down and make other parts of his anatomy go down. Then, he’d have to go and work out with her. Not that he minded working out, but it was hard to watch her do anything while sweating.

Her thighs were amazingly powerful, and when her core flexed it spurred his thoughts on. And those thoughts weren’t what he needed when he was working alongside her. He needed to control his thoughts around her because he didn’t need her to hear what went on inside his head. The thoughts made him embarrassed and fidgety, even if Finn and Poe had dirtier minds than him and about each other of all things.

That was just another issue to deal with on top of his current issue. Why did Rey drug him?

He’d pried around in her mind, seeing that she had good intentions, but it still wasn’t ok. The main problem with that was that he couldn’t stay mad at her when she gave him that sad, kicked puppy look. He was complete putty in her hands whenever that look crossed her face. Well, that look along with so many others.

Once again though, he was faced with Poe. He’d really stepped over the line with him yesterday, but he was so frustrated for getting in trouble using something he was born with. It was like him telling Poe not to use his trigger finger when holding a blaster; it wasn’t fair. Still, telling the whole table that Poe did those things to himself had been completely uncalled for and would have had his mother rolling around in her grave.

If he wanted to make things work, he needed to talk to Poe and he needed to do it soon.

With how long he was standing under the cold water, Rey was probably already done at the landing pad and was waiting for him, so he’d have to wait until tonight. Shutting the water off now that his whole body had relaxed, he dried and dressed quickly to head out to train. He even grabbed Anakin’s saber because he thought he was ready to start training with it again.

As he neared where she stood in the grass, he felt his cheeks become inflamed at the sight of her. She’d seen him naked. Stark naked! Not only that, but she’d had some rather interesting thoughts on the subject… She had some obsession with how his penis looked, even if that wasn’t what she called it. Why did her mouth have to be that foul? It made him fidget uncomfortably when she laid eyes on him, so he checked to make sure that he was still clothed.

“Ben,” she started, her chocolate eyes growing large as her bottom lip stuck out slightly. “I wanted to say that I’m sorry for drugging you, but I was worried. You’re not sleeping and that can’t be good for your health. I understand that what I did was…”

He held his hand up to silence her, and try to get her to stop with that face, “I heard your internal battle. I forgive you, but please don’t drug me again. I’ll get ahold of the sleeping issue at some point, ok?” Plus, it didn’t really matter anymore. The damage was done and he was used to things like this anyway.

He could feel the fact that she wasn’t happy about his choice, but she didn’t push it as she pulled out Leia’s saber, “Ready for these?”

“Ready,” he agreed with a nod.

He couldn’t have been more wrong…

Rey had been amazing in the motions she’d pulled off, swinging his mother’s rose-gold saber around with graceful and determined strokes. While his form was still decent, he felt unbalanced with his new leg and the saber didn’t feel weighted properly in his hand. Thankfully he hadn’t fallen on his butt, but he had nearly fallen over with a more advanced move.

He thanked the Force when they stopped for breakfast, giving him the ability to regain some of his dignity before they went back out there. They ate alone, the two of them sharing a Jedi text as some light reading, but he couldn’t really focus on the words before him. Instead, he focused on the words that spun around people’s heads. Most were minding their own business and were discussing work tasks, not really noticing him anymore like they had the first day he’d come to get food.

Still, there were some whose thoughts weren’t nearly so simple. Jerome had some interesting thoughts that he pressed outward, even thinking Ben’s dark name to get his attention and listen in to his mind. They were sick thoughts, but Ben refused to rise to them and did his best to shrug them off. Until, suddenly, a thought popped into the man’s head and Ben jerked his own head to look at him watching someone walk into the room. It wasn’t just anyone though…

“Hey guys,” Rose chirped and she sat down across from them, resting her elbows on the table. She leaned towards them, looking at the text before them as Rey greeted her happily.

Ben, on the other hand, didn’t take his eyes from Jerome. The thought had been quick, fleeting, leaving his mind as quickly as it had come in. Still, Ben had heard the thought and was now torn between doing something and not doing something. Poe had made it clear that Ben was not supposed to go inside people’s heads anymore, but that thought… It had been a disturbing thought, more disturbing than the things he wanted to inflict on Ben himself.

He reminded himself that Poe also had some thoughts that flickered away a second later, only thought in the moment and not really meaning them. Perhaps that had been one of those thoughts of Jerome’s? The only problem was, what if it wasn’t? What if Jerome actually acted on that thought and hurt Rose? Then Ben could have stopped it and had done nothing instead.

Rey must have felt the conflict within him because she turned to him with a, “Everything ok?”

Ben immediately tore his eyes from Jerome, shuffling his thoughts around as he looked at her, “Sorry, I was spacing. Rose, how are you?”

He had learned early on that, while Rey had the spirit of a true Jedi, she was sorely lacking his mental capabilities. There was no doubt that she could see and feel him moving his thoughts around, but she wasn’t able to grab hold of one yet and see what the whole fuss was about. She was an amazing fighter, beating him multiple times, but she was not as in sync with the Force as he was.

“Oh, you know me, working away. You see, today, the ships were just…” she trailed off, shaking her head. “You probably don’t want to hear about my work, it’s boring compared to yours…”

Ben didn’t need to be inside her head to know what she was feeling because it was clearly written on her face. He rubbed his lips together, closing the old text and giving her his full attention, “I would like to know what you do. You seem to have a very important job with taking care of all the ships. My father’s ship included. I would like to know, go on.”

She smiled sheepishly at him, her face turning a slight pink, “Alright, well…”

He _had_ tried to keep up with her, he really had, but he was lost. He bet Rey sensed his confusion, but she wasn’t saying anything, only smiling behind her hand. Why hadn’t he paid closer attention to all that his father did? Then maybe he would understand half of the things that were coming from her mouth.

None of that mattered to him though because Rose was passionate about her work and talked with her hands quite a bit. She yammered on and on with a bright smile on her face that almost had him grinning himself. Eventually, Rey was the one to break up her rambling to explain that they were working on saber techniques, so they needed to jet.

After spending the full rest of the day working, skipping lunch even because he was getting frustrated when he couldn’t switch his weight back quick enough, Rey finally called it quits. She complained that it was her who was tired, when he knew that she was just saying it for his benefit.

When they walked inside, Ben turned down the hallway towards his barracks room instead of the cantina. At first Rey hadn’t noticed, but spoke when she did, “Aren’t you coming to dinner?”

“I’m not hungry,” he lied because he was actually starving, but didn’t want to eat because he was upset. He was upset with himself. The choices he made were awful, his whole family was dead because of it. He lost his leg, which made him nothing of the fighter he used to be. He was upset with himself and just wanted to be alone. Not waiting for her to ask another question, he sent that out her way to which she accepted even though she didn’t like it.

He slumped into his room, taking yet another cold shower for the day to wash his failures off himself. After sitting naked in his darkened room for what felt like hours, he sighed and redressed. He wanted to find Rey, to explain to her his feelings. Why he was grumpy and upset, even if she already knew. He was trying to be Ben, the one who talked about his issues and was normal, not Kylo. Kylo was the one to brood in the dark, alone and naked, and he was NOT Kylo anymore.

Once dressed, he eased out of his room and made his way around the base. His and Rey’s rooms were quite a ways away from each other, but he didn’t mind because it gave him time to think. He even stopped by the cantina to grab a few slabs of bread. As he rounded the corner, passing by the hanger leading outside, a familiar mind touched his.

He stopped dead in his tracks. He had told himself earlier that day that he would talk to Poe about what he did. That he would apologize again. He was in a rotten mood, but he had to make a difference. If he didn’t, then everybody would only remember him being the monster he had been.

Stepping out into the darkness before emerging into the light, “Poe?”

The man nearly ruined his pants as he jumped up from where he was slumped back on the ground, “Druk-kriff!” Ben raised his brow at his odd choice of a curse word as the older man looked him up and down, “Kriff Ben…”

“Sorry,” Ben said and held his hands up, showing off the food he’d thieved just a few minutes prior. “I didn’t realize… I forget… Um…”

“Do you plan on finishing any of those sentences?” Poe asked, the low light not quite showing off his expression.

“No,” Ben answered with a shake of his head. “Can I sit?”

“Oh, um, yeah,” Poe said and motioned to the ground before slumping back down on the ground as well.

As Ben sat next to him, he looked to the man and studied him carefully as he popped the rest of his bread into his mouth. His curly brown hair was slicked backwards, showing off his stubble and sharp jawline. He looked much older than Ben himself even if it was only by two years or so. His eyes caught the bottle then, realizing that he was probably well on his way to being drunk. Looking up at the wide sky above him, he spoke, “I wanted to apologize again. I shouldn’t have said what I said yesterday. I was flustered.”

He heard Poe shift and fought to keep out of the man’s mind before his voice finally came, “It’s alright Ben. I don’t think you have much practice with conversing with others.”

“I suppose you’re right…” Ben trailed and fixed his eyes on the ground, feeling out with the Force. He felt the push and pull of life beneath him, fighting not to pluck at the grass. Then, he felt something nudge his shoulder and looked to see Poe offering the bottle of whatever substance was inside.

“I think you need this more than me,” Poe offered with a smirk.

Ben nodded his head and accepted the bottle, studying the purple liquid before taking the bottle to his mouth. He tipped it back and let the liquid burn its way into his mouth and down his throat. It was sweet, yet hot, and he pulled the bottle back with a cough. With watering eyes, “What is this?”

“Does it really matter?” Poe asked and plucked the bottle from him, taking a swig himself as he propped himself up on an elbow. “You can’t deny that it makes you feel better.”

“I don’t think,” Ben started before he coughed again. “That it could make me feel better.”

Poe looked to him with another smirk, handing the bottle back, “Then you obviously haven’t had enough.”

Ben figured that he’d regret this in the morning, but he took it back and drank some more.

Setting the empty bottle down on the grass next to him, Ben shook his head, “I don’t get it…” Somewhere deep in his mind, he knew that he should keep his thoughts to himself, but he just needed someone else to hear them. “Rey is just…”

“Hot?” Poe asked, his voice sounding fuzzy to Ben’s ears.

“Also beautiful…” Ben muttered and looked upwards before he fell back with a thump. He couldn’t help the slight chuckle, if that’s what you wanted to call the huff of breath, escape his mouth, “I hadn’t meant to do that.”

Poe laughed at that, shaking his head, “You’re so drunk. You’re such a lightweight. That bottle was over half empty and you had like… 5 drinks.”

“I don’t drink,” Ben said and raised his finger, wiggling it around wildly in the air. “Are you not drunk?”

“I’m nicely buzzed,” Poe shrugged as Ben wiggled closer to him.

“You know, Poe, you can talk to me,” he said and licked his lips before flinging a strand of hair from his face.

“I don’t…”

“You know what I mean,” Ben said and attempted to prop himself up with his elbow, failing horribly the first few tries. “I won’t judge you.”

“Right…” Poe trailed and shook his head. “I can’t even tell my best friend that I…”

“Like guys?” Ben asked and flopped himself back. He breathed in deeply, closing his eyes before opening his mouth. The fire-water was affecting his filter and he knew it, but at the same time he didn’t care. “You know Luke, my uncle, he liked guys.”

Poe whipped himself up to stare down at where Ben looked up at him. His head was cocked and this time, he couldn’t help as he slithered into Poe’s mind. He could see himself from his eyes and knew what he was thinking. Poe was studying his soft face, taking in how his hair cradled his head like a crown. In this moment, Poe wanted to kiss him. He watched as Poe shook that thought from his head, “Luke Skywalker was…”

“Homosexual?” Ben asked with an arched brow. “Yes he was.”

“How did you…?”

“Luke could hide his mind from me, one of the few that could, but my father couldn’t,” Ben said before he closed his eyes. “My father… He kissed Luke a long time ago. After that kiss, more happened.”

“Luke and Han…”

Ben nodded his head, “Of course, it was a different time back then. That wasn’t what was done. Han married my mother, Leia, not that he didn’t love her. He loved both Luke and Leia, would have had the two of them if he could. He didn’t though, ending up with her and eventually having me. I suppose that if he didn’t though, then you’d be happy.”

Poe moved his mouth wordlessly for a second, “You know Ben… You’re not… You’re not a bad guy…”

Ben breathed that in before looking back at Poe, “It’s ok to like your best friend. Finn is… A good guy and…”

“I don’t like Finn,” Poe said defensively.

Ben shook his head, tucking an arm behind it and peeking back inside Poe’s head. Once again, his slightly inebriated mind wanted to kiss Ben, but he didn’t make a move to actually kiss him. Poe knew exactly who he really liked and it wasn’t the larger man beneath him. It was another, different man, but the problem was to get him to admit his feelings. It didn’t matter their species or gender, he was allowed to have feelings for whoever he wanted.

“Ok…” Poe trailed and rubbed the back of his head. “I like Finn, but he’s my best friend and I don’t want to ruin that.”

“Trust me,” Ben started. “You won’t.”

Poe hummed to himself before biting his lower lip, “Can you like, uh, do your mind thing?”

Ben arched a careful brow at him, “You want to spy on Finn for you? Take it from me, knowing all that’s inside everybody’s heads isn’t very fun.”

Poe sighed and nodded his head, “I guess you’re right.” He then pushed himself to a standing position and cracked his neck before offering Ben his hand, “Come on, I’ll help you to your room.”

Ben took the hand gratefully, being yanked roughly to his feet and having his world swimming for a second. He blinked a couple times, trying to center himself as he spoke, “I have to go talk to Rey and I can get there on my own.”

Removing his hand to take a few steps had Ben nearly falling forward as his feet caught together. His eyes immediately looked to his metal leg, staring at it and wiggling it quickly. It lagged behind his thoughts and even moved differently which made him raise his brows. Did alcohol mess with this stuff? It must have because it lagged when he shifted his leg, almost ending him on the ground again.

Lowering it, he looked to Poe, “Actually, help to Rey’s room would be great.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I know any normal person would be pissed about being drugged, but Ben wasn't... I think it kind of tells us that he is still a victim and is so used to people doing whatever they want to him, that he just doesn't fight it...
> 
> Also! I firmly believe that while Ben is a skilled fighter, Rey still tops him on the physical level right now, just like he tops her on the mental level!!


	8. Profound

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone!!  
> Also, I will not be posting a chapter next week. A soul sucking being, also known as my friend, will be monopolizing me while she has the chance... Sorry about that!!!!

Rey was looking over the text in her hand when she heard a couple loud thumps on her door. She had been so lost in the book that she hadn’t realized Ben was outside her room, not only him though. Popping up, she yanked open the door to her room seeing both Ben and Poe, though Poe seemed to be holding Ben up a little.

“What happened?” she asked and looked between the two of them.

“He’s drunk,” Poe informed her simply.

“I am not…” Ben slurred slightly and straightened himself up, stumbling back slightly before Poe caught him. “Ok, I’m drunk.”

“I didn’t know he was a light weight or I wouldn’t have offered the bottle to him,” Poe explained, as if that was an apology.

“Kriff, Poe… You do realize that he hasn’t eaten anything for lunch or dinner, right?” Rey asked and gestured to the big lummox who nodded his head at what she’d said.

“Oh, uh, no. Sorry?” Poe offered with a shrug. “He told me to help him here, so here’s your boyfriend.”

“My…?” Rey started before Ben butted in.

“When did that happen? Did I miss something?” he asked as his eyes flicked between Poe and Rey herself.

“Just get in there. I have somewhere I need to be,” Poe said and handed Ben off while the larger man twisted towards him.

“Somewhere… Right…” he said and attempted to wink, but just blinked both eyes at him slowly. Then, he pointed at him while Rey grabbed his side to keep him balanced, “Remember what we talked about. The whole…” His eyes glanced to Rey before he waved his hands about wildly, “I won’t say it, but just remember. Go on.” He then made the shooing motion at their General, who gave him an odd look before shaking his head and walking away.

“What was all that about?” Rey asked, helping her piss drunk man beast into the room as she closed the door. As soon as the door closed though, Ben pulled away from her and slid across her floor with his hands thrown up in the air.

“Whoo! Poe and I just had an awesome talk,” he said excitedly as he bounced up and down with impressive balance considering what he was like a few moments ago.

Rey looked him up and down slowly, assessing how he was acting. This definitely wasn’t the usual way he acted, he was usually much more reserved than how he was acting now. Still, he wasn’t falling over anymore and she arched a careful brow, “Are you drunk?”

“Honestly?” Ben asked, letting his mouth hang open as his tongue danced around. “Yes. Totally drunk.”

“Of course you are…” she trailed and shook her head before he was on her.

He had crossed the space between them, wrapping his strong arms around her to pull her flush against him. She gasped at his closeness as he stared down at her, “Is that a problem? Poe found me rather hilarious.”

“I think that was only because he, uh, knew he could, uh, pawn you off on me,” she stammered out as he adjusted her body in his arms.

“You know…” he trailed, his eyes trailing down her face as he brought one hand up. His finger toyed with a loose strand of hair before following the shape of her face, caressing her skin until it stopped at her neck. “You truly are beautiful…”

A fierce blush seared her face, making her cast her face downward, “And… You’re totally drunk.”

He caught her chin, forcing her to raise her head till their eyes locked, “And you’re still beautiful… And…” He breathed in and out, obviously trying to decide if his next thought should be voiced. The drunk side of him won out over the sober side as he spoke, “Hot…”

She was about to retort to that statement before he dipped his head down and caught her mouth with his. He mouth was firm, but not demanding in the way he kissed her. The heat from his mouth spurred her on and she couldn’t help it as she knotted her hands in his shirt as she turned to face him fully.

Suddenly, he pulled back and pointed a finger at her, “I had something I wanted to tell you. Besides you looking… Exquisite.”

Rey let out a breathy laugh and shook her head, “And what was that exactly?” She knew she shouldn’t ask him because he was too drunk to stop the words coming from his mouth, but it honestly made her laugh.

“I think it was…” he trailed as one of his hands moved up to the back of her head, gently tugging on her lowest bun. “Man… I love your hair… Your buns are so cute.”

She bit back a laugh, “You wanted to talk about my buns?”

“I don’t mind all 5 of them,” he muttered out and her jaw dropped at his forwardness before his train of thought left him. “Am I your boyfriend? I mean, I’ve never had a friend before. A real friend actually.” He then ducked his head closer to hers, whispering, “I’ve also never had a girlfriend.”

“Really?” Rey asked with a pitying smile, secretly loving the way his words just rolled right out his mouth.

He shook his head quickly, “Girls thought I was weird… That’s also why I’m a virgin.” He pulled his head back quickly from her, “I don’t think I should have said that.”

Rey covered her mouth with her hand, “Your secret is safe with me.”

Ben nodded his head in agreement, “Good. That’s good. You smell nice, did you know that?”

“Um, Ben, remember you had something you wanted to talk with me about?” Rey reminded him. As much as she enjoyed the way every thought came right out of his mouth, perhaps what he wanted to say was something important.

“Right…” he trailed and pointed a finger at her, nodding his head before a huff of breath came from his mouth. “I don’t remember. Can I kiss you again? That was nice.”

His soft mouth then found hers after her small nod, and he hugged her tightly to him. The kiss started slowly at first before it grew more heated as he seemed to be trying to mold them into one. As the kiss continued, she began to push him back until his knees hit the edge of the bed causing him to sit down. Once sitting, she realized that he couldn’t judge her for any of this and so she climbed onto his lap.

Straddling his lap made him growl deep in his throat as he grabbed at her thighs, kissing her harder. The kiss was passion and heat and a lot of other things, but it was one main thing. As much as she wanted to do this and as much as he obviously wanted to do this with the way he pressed up against her, he was still drunk.

She somehow managed to pull herself away, despite the burning sensation deep inside her, sliding from his lap. He mumbled a few words in protest, but she spoke up over him, “You’re drunk, Ben. You can’t give me consent. We’re not doing this. You can stay the night though, so I can keep my eye on you. Plus, I don’t want to help you walk all the way back to your room.”

He opened his mouth to argue as his eyes jumped between her eyes, then he sighed, “I know that I hate your choice right now, but I will probably thank you in the morning.” He paused for a second, pushing his hair back from his face clumsily, before speaking, “Do you mind helping me with my boots then?”

“I don’t mind,” she said, centering herself from her want of him as she lowered herself down. She was on her knees now as she worked his laces undone, glancing up to his face and seeing him fighting himself free of his shirt.

As her eyes moved back down, they caught sight of the bulge in his pants. Even though she wasn’t seeing _that_ part of him, it was enough to make the wetness between her legs expand. She was soaking through her panties and was probably soaking her pants as well as she licked her lips. Remembering that he was drunk, she tore her eyes away and finished taking off his boots. Grabbing them and his neatly folded black shirt, she moved towards her desk as he continued to move around behind her.

When she turned back towards him, she saw that his pants were also neatly folded on the ground as he seemed to be fighting some internal battle inside his mind. Rey rubbed her lips together, not needing to be inside his head to know exactly what thoughts were flicking around his mind. After last night, he was probably debating on taking his underwear off to sleep. Voicing her opinion on the matter seemed wrong, so she let him make the decision on his own as she collected where his pants were laid.

His brown eyes flicked up to hers before he stood himself up, nearly falling over, before he grabbed the waistband of his underwear. His mind was obviously fighting the fire-water, but it was too strong and he pushed his underwear down his legs.

She knew it was wrong, she really did, but she couldn’t help as her eyes flicked downward on his body. Taking in his muscles as she finally let them stay put on his erection. He wasn’t fully hard, but his cock was standing more upwards than it had been this morning. She could see the veins under his skin, one bulging more than the others. What she wouldn’t give to touch him… To taste him… But, she was not going to take advantage of him in this state.

Clearing her dry throat, she pointed towards his underwear, “I can’t pick them up if you’re standing on them.”

“Oh…” he muttered, but made no move to get off of them.

She felt him slither his way into her mind, which had her shaking her head, “We’re not doing this Ben. The first time we have sex, you will definitely be sober to remember it.”

“I do want to remember your thighs,” he said and finally stepped from them, climbing onto her bed to tuck himself carefully under the sheet. Then, for the first time since Exogal, he smiled. It was his huge, bright smile that showed his teeth as he looked at her, “What?”

Shaking her head, she realized that this feeling for him wasn’t just them being connected by the Force. It was so much more. Tossing his clothes onto her desk, taking off her own pants and picking her hair free of their buns, she clicked the light off and climbed up the bed to settle beneath the sheet, “It’s nothing, Ben. And you need to sleep off the fire-water.”

“You’re probably right,” he said with a nod of his head, only the small light by her bed illuminating his features. He then chewed on his bottom lip, “Since we can’t… Can I cuddle you instead?”

Rey had to admit that it was odd: this Ben. Her usual quiet and reserved Ben who hardly stated what he wanted was actually talking to her, asking things of her, and was acting happy. She’d finally been graced with an actual smile since he had almost died and it brought her immense joy. And now, he was asking for something and not just taking what she and everyone around him gave him.

Nodding her head, “Sure.”

She wasn’t quite sure what to do with herself as she laid on her back because she didn’t know how he wanted to cuddle exactly. Letting him move first, he turned over onto his side and wrapped a strong arm around her to pull her tight against him. His bare stiffness was pressing into her bare leg, the skin on skin contact causes his cock to jump, but he merely nuzzled his face into where her hair was against her neck.

“Comfortable?” she asked with a smirk.

“Very…” he mumbled, his voice heavy as he began to drift off.

“Just so you know, I’m not going easy on you tomorrow even if you are hungover,” she said and poked his arm playfully.

“Noted…” he trailed before his breathing evened out and he was asleep.

Being with him, sleeping in the same bed as him was actually comforting. So much so that she fell asleep a few minutes later.

When she woke up, her bed was empty of another body. At first, she thought he was just in the bathroom or something, until her eyes flicked to where his clothes were missing from her desk. Sitting straight up, much more awake than a few seconds prior, she felt out for him with her mind. It wasn’t as hard as she thought it would be because the second that she did, he reached back out towards her.

She could feel his unease from the fire-water in his system, but it wasn’t just that. He was unsure about something he was doing, something that he wasn’t hiding from her. Her eyes widened and she quickly threw on her pants and boots, running from her room.

She tried to do her buns while she ran with the ties that were around her wrists, but it was proving to be more difficult than anticipated as she exited the hanger. The sun was blinding compared to the soft light from inside, forcing her to raise her hand as her eyes adjusted accordingly. Even if she couldn’t see correctly, it didn’t stop her from flicking around the minds till she found the one she wanted.

Squinting her eyes, she saw him standing with a wrench in hand as Rose stood before him pointing at a ship. Both of Rose’s pointer fingers were darting around the ship as she explained something to him while he nodded from behind her. Even though he was paying attention to her, his eyes managed to slip back and look at Rey, giving her a slight shrug as his cheeks lit up before looking back.

She could feel his unease and confusion from here as well as his embarrassment, but didn’t make a move to go to him. He had gotten himself into the mess of having Rose tell him about ships while he was still hungover, which meant that he’d have to get himself out of this one.

“Profound…” a voice came from beside her and Rey looked down to see Maz standing there. Her orange arms were crossed over her chest as she studied where Ben stood, speaking to Rose.

“I’m sorry?” Rey asked, clearly confused.

“Your bond. It’s profound,” Maz said simply.

“Oh…” Rey trailed and took this moment of standstill to tie her hair back. “Well, uh, we’re a dyad. I suppose that’s something really rather profound.”

“Hm…” Maz trailed before curiosity got the better of Rey.

“Maz, why haven’t you talked to him? I mean, Lando and Chewie have. Even Finn, Poe, and Rose have, but not you.”

“I was wondering when you’d ask that,” Maz said, not taking her eyes off of where Ben was tinkering with the ship as Rose supervised. “He’s a lot like his father, can you see that?”

“I see a lot of things,” Rey said and watched as he pulled back from the ship with a satisfied nod. Not a second later though, it fritzed. A bolt flew from the ship and through the air as sparks shot outward, Rose ducking to not get hit by anything. Even Rey flinched at the sound before her eyes widened as Ben’s sleeve caught fire, he not seeming to notice at first. Then, when he did, he merely batted at it as if it was a pesky insect.

“And a lot like Luke,” Maz laughed and shook her head. “Still, I see so many people inside of him. I see Han and Luke. I see his mother Leia and her mother Padme. I can even see Anakin, Lando, and Chewie in him. And Rey, I see you in him.” Maz then grabbed Rey’s hand, “The reason I haven’t talked to him has nothing to do with him, and all to do with me. I have seen so many people I have grown to care for die over the years and now, here they are, bottled up inside one man who doesn’t know how to process the galaxy.”

“He’ll make you sad?” Rey asked gently.

“And mad,” Maz admitted. “I know death is a part of living, but it upsets me that I can’t have those people back. I mean, there they are!” She motioned with her arms towards Ben as Rose checked his arm over. “All of them are in him and yet, if I were to speak to him, none of them would truly come out. I love Ben, have since he was a child when I first met him, but it’s hard to see the eyes of the people you love and not be able to talk to them.”

Rey nodded her head, understanding because Ben was all those people. He was respectful like his mother, could be rather gallant like his father, had Chewie’s humor, and pulled some stunts of Luke’s every once in a while. It had to be hard for all of those that had known them to see him in all his glory with that mighty Skywalker blood in him.

“I’m going away now, Rey,” Maz said simply which had Rey’s heart breaking slightly. “I want to tell you though, I don’t agree with what’s about to happen. I want you to know that.”

Rey looked down at her quickly, “What’s about to happen?” Her eyes quickly shifted to see several men with blasters walking towards where Ben still stood with Rose. All of the men were as serious as they were deadly and she was about to go to him, but Maz spoke up.

“Go to Poe. Now.”

Rey was torn, but decided that it was probably the best. She turned and fled from the outside world towards where Poe should be this time of day.


	9. Justice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys ssssooooo much!!!!!!  
> Man... I missed posting last week! Here you go! I will have another chapter up next week! :)

Still smelling of smoke as part of his sleeve had been burned away, Ben watched the group of men walking towards him. Jerome was leading the charge and Ben didn’t even attempt to resist the men that came forward. Jerome nodded to Rose before looking to Ben, “Won’t you come with us?”

Ben felt Rose about to protest as he panically got inside her mind, but he laid a gentle hand on her shoulder which had her staring up at him with confusion. They had expected him to fight, he could sense it in every single one of them, but he didn’t. He merely stepped forward as they surrounded him and led him off back inside the base. He could feel Rose’s mind trailing behind them even if she wasn’t speaking and it honestly brought him relief that he wasn’t completely alone.

His mind drifted for Rey’s, already feeling her ahead of him as she spoke to Poe. Neither of them had any idea what was happening, but Ben did. He knew that this day would come, he had just expected that it take a little longer. Maybe he could have swayed people here. That he would get the chance to appreciate this life he never got to have, among Rey and her friends.

As they stepped into the conference room, almost everyone from the base was piled inside, cramming into every spare spot they could. He wasn’t surprised because he had been staying out of so many people’s heads that he hadn’t sensed how many were really in on it. As he and the group stepped forward, the sea barely parted for them as he was led until he was standing before Poe, Finn, and Rey. His eyes flicked between all of them carefully, assessing their minds. It was still evident that none of them knew what was happening at the moment, but Poe was quickly catching on.

“General, we have come to have this war criminal tried for his brutality to the galaxy,” Jerome spoke in a loud tone, making sure everyone in the room could hear.

“What is this, Jerome?” Finn spat out. “An execution? He’s…”

“I know he’s the son of our late General, but that doesn’t cover up the years of terror he brought to the galaxy. The planets they destroyed, the people that were slaughtered, the torture he inflicted on innocents, and worse of all the fact that he enjoyed it!” Jerome cried out.

People around the room agreed with what he was saying, voicing their own complaints. Even though Ben was trying not to listen, his eyes glanced around the people that were all basically shouting for his death. He had always thought the Resistance was more civilized than the First Order, but there was always evil in the most unlikely of places.

He quickly turned back to Rey, speaking through their bond, _I’m sorry it’s come to this_.

_I won’t let them hurt you, Ben._

_You can’t stop them. They will have whatever it is that they desire._

Poe spoke up then, yelling over everyone, “We do not execute people here!!! We are more civilized than this!!!” People all around cried out in indignation, but everyone grew silent as Ben made the decision for himself. They may have been shouting for his death, but he was not going to give them the satisfaction of taking it like everything else in his life was taken.

He stepped up to Poe, kneeling down before him with, “General, I submit myself for disciplinary action. Whatever it may be.”

Half of the room stood there in utter shock at his action while the other half began to voice the appropriate punishment for him. Execution was the main one, despite what their General had said, then other forms of torture came spilling from their mouths.

Ben raised his head to meet Poe’s eyes, seeing the conflict that laid there without needing to go inside his head. The larger man nodded towards the smaller of them, giving him his full consent to do whatever he wanted. Poe hesitated before he slowly nodded back, then cleared his throat before he spoke, “Is this truly what you want? You want to punish a man who helped us defeat the Sith?”

“Was he not a Sith himself first?” Jerome asked which got some yells of agreement. “Did he not slaughter that village on Jakku? He even murdered his own father!”

All three of those had Ben flinch at the monster he had once been. He couldn’t help but drop his head, waiting for the literal axe to fall.

“Fine,” Poe hissed out between his teeth. “Ben Solo, I hereby exile you from the Resistance and any known Resistance planets until further notice.”

Ben’s head snapped upward and his jaw dropped, as did most of the other people in the room at his punishment. He hadn’t expected something so light, something that wouldn’t cause him bodily harm, but Poe always had a flare for the dramatics.

Once the shock wore over, people began to shout their disagreement with his choice. They yelled about how he was being soft on him because of his mother and not for his crimes. Some went even farther, as to point out favoritism, but Ben didn’t pay too much attention to them. Instead, he felt the turmoil inside of his love before she yelled.

“If he goes, I go!!” she yelled at the top of her lungs, making everyone fall silent throughout the entire room.

“Rey, don’t do this,” Ben pleaded, trying to soothe her mind as it whirled.

“No,” she said firmly. “This is exactly what will cause more Sith users to rise, pushing away those who need help. I will not stand by and let it happen, I won’t.”

Ben pushed himself up, reaching for her hands and pulling her in. “Rey, this is my burden for my crimes. I will not have it affect you. You need to maintain the balance.”

“WE are the balance Ben. You and I,” she said and brought a hand up to cup his face.

Ben chewed on his lower lip, trying to muster up the courage to do what he wanted to do next in front of this crowd, but he didn’t have to. Rey did it for him, throwing herself into his arms and pressing her lips forcefully into his. He stumbled backwards, not ready for the force of which she’d thrown herself at him, still he held her steady and kissed her back with everything he had.

One of his large hands cradled the back of her head as he kissed her before he somehow managed to pull himself back from her, breathing hard. “Rey, you will stay here. They need you more than I do.”

“Even if that’s true, you deserve me more than they do,” she said, loud enough for most of the silent room to hear.

Ben closed his eyes before kissing over her face a few times then pushing her back from him, “I’m leaving Rey and you’re staying.”

Rey set her jaw and Poe put his hands on his hips, speaking before she could, “I think Rey can make her own choices, no? If she wishes to go with you, then I won’t stop her. I wouldn’t even be able to if I tried.”

“What?” Ben and Rey cried together, though his was shock while hers was happiness.

“You’re a Jedi, Rey. Ben too,” Poe said and glanced to Ben, who ducked his head meekly. “You two are all we have left, so I will not force you to stay if you don’t want to. Ben is exiled until further notice, while Rey, you can come and go as you wish. I do hope that you come when we call of course.”

Rey nodded her head eagerly, but Ben shook his head, “Poe… Please…”

Poe looked to Ben, licking his lips, “Ben… You’re my friend and I will not doom you to death or a life of suffering. You’ve suffered enough.”

It felt like someone had punched Ben straight in the gut and he couldn’t help it as he paced backwards on unsteady legs. Had he heard him right? No, no. He had to have been hearing things. This was Snoke or Palpatine inside his head. Poe barely tolerated him, really only when he was drunk, but still. Shaking his head quickly, Ben couldn’t stop the single tear from sliding down his cheek before he turned and fled the conference room.

As he ran, he could hear Lando calling after him, but he didn’t stop to see what he wanted. The fact that it was Lando only made him run harder towards his room. He had known this was going to happen and he had prepared himself for it. Not for losing Rey, but he would never really lose her because of their bond. But here was Poe, breaking his heart because he had just given him hope that things could be different between the two of them and everybody else here. Once again though, the life that was forced on him was ruining any chance he could have had to live a different life.

He slid the lock firmly into place once inside his room and choked back tears because this wasn’t fair. Nothing was ever fair to him. It was just something he needed to get used to he supposed.

Ben zipped up his bag as he felt Rey outside his door, unlocking it with the Force and turning the knob. She stood in her usual tan ensemble, leaning against the frame with his mother’s saber on her hip. Her arms were crossed and her head was resting against the frame.

He could barely meet her eyes as she studied him before mumbling, “Where will you go?”

He lowered his head, breathing in and out deeply, “I had read in one of the texts about the known Kyber Caves… I think I will go to one of those planets, one that also has meaning.” He scratched the back of his neck, “My grandfather and uncle both grew up on Tatooine. It was said that they had Kyber Caves. I know all the Kyber is probably gone by now, but perhaps they have some still.”

Her brow furrowed at his words, “Why a Kyber Cave?”

Nodding towards where his grandfather’s saber was on his desk, he spoke, “It’s a wonderful saber, but unbalanced for me. I was thinking about making my own. One that would suit me. I also… Never mind…”

“You’re hoping that some Kyber will pick you to tell you that you’re worthy?” Rey asked and Ben’s eyes jumped to hers. “I’m getting better with your mind. It’s quite hard to read everything, but that I caught.”

Ben fought the smile that wanted to come to his face as he ducked his head, “You learn fast.”

“Not as fast as you,” Rey muttered before her eyes cast downward as his moved up to her face.

He felt out with his mind, touching hers, but she put her wall up. He chewed on his lower lip before making a decision. He didn’t want her to be with him and be outcast from the rest of the Resistance, but he could feel her want to be with him no matter how hard she tried to hide it. “You know…” he trailed. “I’m going to need a pilot since I’m just co-pilot material for the Falcon…”

Rey’s eyes jumped up to his as a smile spread across her face, “Really?”

“Really,” he said with a nod of his head, a small smile coming to his face. It was just a quirk of the corner of his mouth and he quickly stopped it, realizing how stupid he must look.

“Great,” she said and reached on her side of the wall, producing a small bag and dropping it in front of her. “I knew you would say that.” He couldn’t help but shake his head, sending his bangs into his face.

The fur was a comfort as Chewie embraced Ben, squeezing him tighter than probably necessary. Lando was next, hugging him quickly because he knew this wasn’t really goodbye. As he pulled back, he reached for something tucked in the back of his pants. “Since your last one got lost…” he trailed, showing Ben the new blaster.

Ben gingerly took it into his hands, testing the weight before nodding his head, “Thank you, uncle.” He could barely lift his eyes, seeing fresh tears pricking his uncle’s eyes before the older man patted the side of his head and stepped back.

The next person surprised him. The small, squishy body of Rose slammed hard into him as her surprisingly strong arms squeezed him so hard that she pushed air from his lungs. “I’m going to visit you, so be ready,” she said before pulling back, not giving him the chance to really hug her back.

Finn was next and he nodded his head awkwardly, toeing the ground with his boot. “Take care of her, huh?” he said before slapping Ben’s arm with his hand.

“Always,” Ben muttered and fiddled with his blaster.

Finally, Poe stepped forward and Ben couldn’t help but shifted uncomfortably. The last time Poe had actually seen him, he had basically cried in front of him and showed him his weakness. His want to be loved…

“I don’t want this Ben,” Poe said firmly, placing his hands on his hips which amused Ben to be honest. That was the one movement he did the most, and honestly, Ben would miss seeing it. “I think, until this whole thing blows over, you being gone would be the best thing though.”

“I understand, General,” Ben said with a nod. “Plus, I’d much rather keep my head.”

Poe arched a brow at him with a chuckle, “Did you just make a joke, Solo?” Ben shrugged his shoulders before holding his hand out, meaning to shake the other man’s hand. Shaking his head, Poe stretched his arms out, “Let’s not make this awkward.”

Gulping, Ben stepped forward, having to duck slightly to wrap his hands around the smaller man. It was a relatively quick hug, but it was a hug of hope. A hug that promised Ben he wouldn’t be exiled forever and that brought a quirky grin to his face.

“You smiling?” Poe jested and pointed towards his face.

“Nope,” Ben said, wiggling his jaw slightly before stepping back.

“Wait,” Poe said before waving his hand to someone behind him, and Ben shifted to the side to see BB-8 come rolling forward. “I think you’ll be needing a good droid with you and I’d like you to take mine. He’s a good droid, very capable.”

Ben looked down at the little white and orange sphere with another, smaller one atop his head. He was staring up at Ben in a curious manner as he swiveled back and forth before beeping something which had Ben’s eyebrows shooting sky high.

“Whoa there!” Poe exclaimed. “PG language please.”

“He’s feisty,” Ben said and chewed on his lower lip which had the droid beeping again. “Oh, I believe it. Don’t worry.”

With one last nod to Poe, his eyes passed over where Jerome stood with a satisfied smirk on his face. He couldn’t help his upper lip curling into something unkind which had his new companion beeping from beside him.

“Go on. I’ll be on the ship in a minute,” he said and walked briskly towards Jerome, watching as the man raised his chin. He was satisfied with this, but he was about to be knocked right off his pedestal. As Jerome opened his mouth, Ben held up one finger to silence him before growling out, “You touch Rose and you’ll meet Kylo Ren first hand.”

Jerome’s eyes widened and Ben didn’t even give him a chance to defend himself before he turned and stormed up into the ship. As he moved past where BB-8 was currently prodding some unknown thing on the floor, he pushed the thoughts of that vile man back into the depths of his mind. Stepping into the cockpit, Rey was already occupying one seat and was pressing various buttons.

While Ben didn’t really need a pilot, seeing as he was one of the best pilots ever, he knew it made Rey extremely happy to be coming with him and to be in charge. He slid into the seat next to her, trying to forget about his state of undress when he’d woken up this morning. To be honest, he didn’t really remember anything after Poe walking him to Rey’s room. He vaguely caught a few glimpse or a few phrases here and there, but nothing truly stuck.

He shrugged it off and he punched some buttons of his own before something caught his eyes. There, hanging where he could see them, were his father’s dice. A swell of emotions settled deep with him and Rey obviously felt the guilt, sadness, and anger because she laid a gentle hand on his arm.

“You’re a good man, Ben,” she assured him and all he could do was nod his head before they began their trek in silence.


	10. Tatooine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everybody is well!! Please take the precautions to limit yourself outside to help limit the spread of the virus to those with compromised immune systems! I also hope you all have toilet paper in this crazy shortage! Stay safe everyone and remember to help out your neighbor and fellow beings during this time!!
> 
> On another note, happy late St. Patrick's Day!!!
> 
> Also, I would like to apologize for the short chapter, but I hope you all understand with everything going on... I did meet my minimum requirement which is 2,000 words.

Deep down, Rey knew that Ben didn’t need her help. He was a skilled pilot, better than herself and probably better than Chewie too. Han and Poe were probably the only ones that could have kept up with him, but she’d never admit that to Poe for fear of seeking all 5 feet 8 inches of his wrath.

He pressed a few buttons even though they were already up in space, so there was less to worry about. She studied him carefully as she shifted in her seat, facing him and toeing off her boots. Then, kicking one foot outward, her heel landed on his thigh which caused his hands to falter for a second as he glanced to it before he hit one more button. Then, his eyes met hers as he tilted his head down to let his black hair cover his eyes.

“So… Tatooine?” Rey asked and arched a brow at him, leaning her elbow on the board and her head on her knuckles.

“Did you want somewhere else? I suppose you get a say in where we’re going since you’re here now,” he said, his tongue licking his bottom lip.

“You suppose?” Rey laughed and shook her head. “I mean… I’ve never been there. Maybe we could do a little sightseeing before?”

Ben’s brow furrowed at her before shaking his head, “You heard Poe though, nowhere where the Resistance is. And I know, for a fact, they are not there.”

Raising her other hand to chew on her nail, she thought carefully, but unfortunately she didn’t know many planets in general. Shrugging her shoulders, “We will need to stop for proper supplies if that’s where we intend to live.”

“Lando gave me plenty of credits for all sorts of planets,” Ben said with a nod of his head. “We can purchase supplies there. I don’t want… I don’t want to ruin what Poe has. I’d rather just get there, then buy what we need. I don’t mean to act like a dictator, but…” He then ran a strong hand through his hair, brushing it backwards. In the light of the Falcon, Rey got to see other hints of browns deep in his eyes.

“No, no,” Rey said and shook her head, hiding her smile behind her hand. She then shifted her barefoot on his thigh, rubbing his thigh through his pants. “I think that might be for the best actually.” She then watched as Ben’s eyes drifted back to where her foot was rubbing his leg, letting his huge hand drop on top of it. His thumb carefully traced the tendons as she muttered, “I am the pilot though, so I get the final say.”

His eyes flicked up to hers, widening slightly before he saw the smirk playing across her lips. Shaking his head, the corners of his mouth quirking up slightly, “Where to then, Miss. Pilot?”

“Another desert planet,” Rey sighed with a shake of her head. “I thought I’d seen enough sand.”

Ben chewed on his lower lip, unsure as he took his hand back to knot the two together, “We could find somewhere else…”

“No, it’s ok,” Rey assured him because she had to remember that she wasn’t a slave anymore. On this planet, she wouldn’t live like Anakin Skywalker had. Instead, she’d live similarly to Luke and she’d do it with Ben. On this planet, she’d be Rey. Rey Palpatine… The thought made her stomach twist uncomfortably.

“You don’t have to be…” Ben trailed before looking away from Rey quickly. “You don’t have to be bound by blood to be a part of a family.”

Rey offered him a painful smile, “I don’t know what’s worse. Being the granddaughter of Palpatine or being the granddaughter of nobody…” The thought sounded absurd and she was just about to take it back before Ben spoke up.

“I know what you mean. Palpatine was an evil man, but at least you have an identity with him. Whereas if you had nobody, you’re alone in the world. I get it,” he said and nodded his head. “Everybody that shares my blood is dead.”

“But you’re a Skywalker. That means hope,” Rey said and patted his knee with her toes.

Shaking his head, “I’m a Solo. I will always be a Solo with that Skywalker blood coursing through my veins. Still, all that blood won’t change the fact that I’m my father’s son. And honestly… I’m ok being a Solo. I like being a Solo. There’s something… Freeing about it.”

Rey nodded her head because she understood. When you heard Skywalker, you thought of Anakin, the Jedi from the Clone Wars. Or you thought of Luke, who defeated the Sith and stopped Darth Vader. Kriff, people even thought of Leia, the war general. It would be hard for him to live up to those names whereas a Solo, he could just be himself and nothing more. Maybe Rey, just Rey, was enough for her too.

“Should we jump to lightspeed?” Ben asked, bringing her from her thoughts.

Pushing those thoughts aside, she nodded, “Let’s do it.” With a few more pushing of buttons, they both reached for the levers, their hands touching one another’s. It was a brush that sent a tingle up her arm and she bet it sent one up his too. Glancing to see him staring at her, she nodded her head and they made the jump. Together.

Rey let Ben make the landing as she hopped from her seat nimbly and moved off towards the bay door. She hit the button once they landed and felt the oppressive heat smack her dead on, sending her back to all those years she woke up to something similar. Apparently, this desert wasteland was Luke’s home before his aunt and uncle were both murdered.

She made her way down the ramp, stopping at the bottom. Taking in the sand that stretched outwards in every direction, she stepped from the ship and heard the familiar quiet crunch under her boots. Taking in the white dome in front of her that led below the earth, she heard the familiar rolling of BB8. The little droid came to her side first before she heard Ben’s heavy footsteps down the ramp, his massive body bumping hers slightly as he came to stand next to her.

Feeling a swarm of emotions flurry around his mind, she reached a gentle hand out to grab his. He engulfed hers with his before she tugged him as she started moving. The only noise was their boots and the familiar thumping and rolling of BB8, the desert was quieter than ever. Pulling him along, they went inside the white dome and down the steps that led to the main room. There was a thick layer of dirt and dust on the couch and chairs that sat around the room, as well as the desk with what appeared to have some older holo tech sitting atop it.

“Do you want to look around first before we clean?” Rey asked, glancing up and backwards at him.

“That would be good. You want to look over there,” he started and pointed to the gaping opening on the wall which led to the outside. Instead of there being hallways, it was all connected from the outside. He was pointing to the left side of the small dwelling before motioning to the right, “And I’ll take this side.”

Even if she didn’t want to separate herself from him anymore, she knew that it was probably good for him to adjust to this place. After all, this had been his uncle’s home for the beginning of his life. It didn’t matter that their relationship hadn’t been easy. When his own parents couldn’t help him, they sent him to Luke despite Ben’s pleas.

Even though Luke hadn’t been the parent figure that Ben had needed, he did care about his nephew. Ben knew that deep down and had forgiven Luke for his moment of weakness and wanting to protect those that he loved when he saw what he would become.

Ben wanted to be alone right now and so Rey nodded her head, parting their hands before they stepped away from one another. Rey found the kitchen next, seeing the last meal they were going to eat long rotted, more of dust now than anything else. She knew that they had enough supplies on the ship for a few days, but would need to purchase more.

There wasn’t much more here, she found what looked like a shed that had some old rusted tools and equipment. They would have to clean this place up if they planned on living out their days here until Ben was allowed to rejoin them. As she got to the last section of the house, it was a hallway which branched off into two rooms.

She opened one and knew instantly that this had been Luke’s, his presence seeming to settle over the place. It was a plain room, a few old devices lying around along with tools. His room was bigger than she’d thought it would be, having plenty of room for his furniture and anything else he might want. Closing that door, she moved to the next room which must have belonged to his aunt and uncle.

It was sparse of treasured knickknacks, having the bare minimums for sleeping, storing, and cleaning. Both rooms had their own bathrooms off to the side, seeing as they both had the same layout. As she took in the blank space of a room, she could feel Ben’s emotions swell for a second before he promptly shut them down.

BB8 had gone with Ben and she felt his frustration at that fact before he closed his mind off from hers. Chewing on her lower lip, she decided on what she wanted to do. And so, she set off back towards Ben to do what she’d wanted to do ever since she saw him shirtless.

As she stepped from the dwelling, she saw Ben and the droid standing off slightly on a dune. Both of the suns were setting, the sky turning a bluish-purple as the red sun sunk faster than the white one. Tentatively, Rey eased herself towards where he stood and let her hand glide up his arm.

“Are you alright? I mean, considering…” she trailed, feeling stupid as she spoke.

“This home, the Falcon, and I are all that’s left of my family…” he muttered under his breath.

She nodded her head at his words, stepping even closer to wrap a firm arm around his waist. At first, he didn’t accept the hug, but he then turned and let his strong arms wrap around her waist. He smoothed her completely against him as he ducked his head to bury his face in her neck. She allowed the strong hug before her eyes flicked down to BB8, giving him a look. At first the droid just stood there before he looked between the two of them and rocked his body suggestively.

Then, the droid turned and moved away from them. Moving her hands from where they were around his neck, she cradled his cheek and made him look at her. She could feel the sadness there, but his face remained impassive. Not waiting for him to catch on to what she wanted, she got up on her toes and pressed her lips against his forcefully.

He sucked in a deep breath through his nose at the sudden act, jerking back for a second before he settled into the kiss. His mouth was warm against hers and it pushed her to go even further, pressing her tongue forward. At the first touch of her tongue against his lips, he opened them and allowed her access.

Moving her hands, she grabbed at his shoulders as her tongue caressed every inch of his mouth that she could. She hummed happily against his mouth and rubbed her hips against his, _Fuck me, Ben._

Ben’s mind fluttered at her choice of words, but he sent out his acceptance of her request and so, she wasted no time. Pulling away from him, she grabbed his hand and yanked him hard towards the Falcon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is where the smut begins... ;)


	11. The Falcon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all are safe and well!!! And thank you all for the love!!
> 
> So… I actually had a hard time writing this, even though I love writing smut and sex scenes (they’re my favorite!!!!!!!). For some reason, I would write something and then hate it just to start over. This went on the whole week! Anyway, here’s the finished product! Hope you all enjoy!

Ben let himself be dragged from the dune by Rey’s strong grip, his mind a swirl of thoughts. As they got closer to the Falcon, he could feel himself getting lightheaded at what was about to happen, but it could have just been because the blood was now pooling lower.

He stumbled going up the ramp slightly, Rey turning back with a smile. Yanking him close, she got up on her toes to kiss him firmly. She hummed against his mouth before she roughly shoved him, his back slamming into the wall of the ship. He looked at her surprised while she smirked, hitting the bay doors and then typing in the code to lock the ship down.

Ben couldn’t help but watch her predatory stare as her eyes raked up and down his body, causing a blush to sear across his cheeks and part of his anatomy to twitch a little. As he went to step from the wall towards her, she held out her hand to slam him back against the wall and holding him there by the use of the Force. He didn’t even try to resist as she came up on him, slamming her mouth into his as she grabbed at his neck.

Slowly her lips moved down to his neck, kissing at the flesh at first before sucking on it. He allowed himself to continue to be pinned as she ground her hips against his, his penis becoming even harder from where it was tucked away. He sighed at she grazed her teeth across the ticklish spot on his neck, finally wiggling in her hold. He could fight her hold and break free if he really wanted to, but this felt too good.

“Rey…” he sighed and wiggled as her teeth went over the same spot, adding more friction to where she was rubbing herself against him.

“What?” she trailed, her hot breath ghosting across his skin.

“I thought… You said…” Ben muttered out dumbly, not quite sure how he was going to end that sentence.

“Changed my mind…” she trailed and confusion was dancing from his brain into hers, letting her know. Chuckling slightly, “Don’t worry…”

Kissing his mouth again, she pulled him from the wall, yanking him towards the captain’s quarters. It was where his father used to sleep, where he did a lot more things than sleep as well… Why did he have to think about his father’s sexual activities while Rey was kissing him? His father swore Ben was conceived on the Falcon, while Ben knew Luke’s virginity had been taken here as well. He couldn’t help but remember that during his own intimate time, and it was killing his erection…

“Let me help with that…” Rey mumbled and Ben hadn’t realized she’d already unhooked his belt and undone his pants. Before he knew what was happening, her small, warm hand had dipped inside his pants and undergarment. He sucked in a deep breath, his eyes closing as his body and mind ceased working. Her hand first ghosting across his penis, before wrapping around it. “This is our time, Ben…” she mumbled against his lips as her hand shifted.

There wasn’t any lubrication besides his own pre-ejaculation, making the feeling rough, but not entirely unpleasant. That just showed him how inexperienced she was with the male anatomy, causing his erection to come back almost immediately and begin to throb.

He grabbed her arm, stilling her movement, “You read my thoughts.” He then opened his eyes, tilting his head back down even though he hadn’t realized he’d done that.

“I’m getting better,” she muttered with a shrug. “Plus, you’re kind of out of it… That makes it easier.”

Ben arched a brow, his tongue dancing along the back of his teeth, “You’re cheating.”

“Only a little,” she shrugged with a wink before she grabbed at his shirt, untucking it all the way. “Now, don’t think of your parents or uncle anymore. That’s a real turn off.” She then yanked his shirt up and over his head, tossing it somewhere on the ground of the captain’s room. “Take your pants off,” she ordered as she untied her buns before moving onto the rest of her clothes.

Ben toed off his boots first, setting them by the door before pulling his pants off and folding them before doing the same to his undergarment. After the three items and his socks were nicely folded and placed by the door, he looked to where Rey had tossed her clothes to the ground at random and now laid out on the bed.

He breathed in deeply at the sight of her, her skin was all tan, not just the parts of her that were exposed to the sun. If he had to guess, it was a trait she got from her mother, the darker skin which made his look even paler. Her figure was tiny compared to his, her long legs stretching out as she leaned back on her elbows. As his eyes trailed up her mile long legs, they came to together to show the tiny brown patch of hair between her legs. Since her legs were crossed, he couldn’t see anything else about that part of her, but he swore his penis throbbed even harder at the sight.

His eyes kept moving upward, past her tiny waist and to her tiny breasts. They were tiny and perky, his hand probably bigger than one of them which made his thoughts swirl about touching one and holding it.

“Maybe later…” Rey trailed and Ben’s eyes jumped to her face as she curled a finger, telling him to come closer.

Mindlessly, he did just that, getting onto the bed to climb up to her. She smiled and spread herself onto her back, laying out to give him the ability to be atop of her. He couldn’t help but fidget because he was afraid that his mass would crush her, weighing her down until she became too uncomfortable. Even during this time where his body was supposed to overpower his mind, he couldn’t help but overthink as he always did.

“I want to top actually,” Rey spoke, sitting up and shoving at his shoulders. The captain’s bed was big, so he merely turned over until he was on his back and she was over him. Her warm hands traced down his shoulders to his pecks as she straddled his hips, allowing him to feel her powerful thighs as they braced him.

She wasn’t quite even on his hips, resting just a little above on his stomach and letting her vaginal lubrication coat him. He couldn’t help but stare at her mound with each gyration of her hips, coating him even more. He couldn’t but wonder how she could possibly have _that_ much fluid coming from her, but from every lesson he’d ever been taught on human anatomy, it was completely normal.

“Are you comparing this to a lesson from school?” Rey asked, pulling his eyes from that part of her and up to her face.

He shrugged meekly, “I don’t know what I’m doing really. In every holo…”

“Stop, stop,” Rey said, leaning forward to cover his mouth with her hand. “I’m new to this too, but let’s not overthink it.”

Rey didn’t take her hand from his mouth as she held herself up higher using her unbelievably toned legs, her tiny hand gripping him carefully. He mumbled something against her hand, but she ignored him as she angled his erection exactly where it needed to be. Then, slowly but surely, she began to lower herself down onto him.

Ben’s body reacted all on its own, his knees bending as he tilted his head back, a low groan coming from deep in his chest. At first, it was just the head of his penis entering her vagina, the heat from her overwhelming him for a second. The heat didn’t stop there though as she continued to lower herself down, breathing in and out through her mouth.

“You’re big…” she mumbled, pausing her movement which was a blessing for Ben because at this moment his body was such a swirl of pleasure he was afraid he’d already ejaculate.

Blinking his eyes up at the ceiling a couple times, he tilted his head back down, Rey’s hand still clamped down on his mouth. He looked up at where she was still hovering atop of him, her eyes closed and her face scrunched up while her brown hair was plastered to her skin from sweat. Ben hadn’t realized his hands were fisted tightly in the sheets until his eyes moved even lower.

He could see his hard penis sticking upward, almost a half of it was inside of her which gave him the view of her vaginal lips being stretched around him. At this moment, he thought about gripping her hips and helping to lower her down on top of him which made him realized where his hands were. It was a good thing they were practically ripping the sheets because it kept him from possibly hurting her.

Instead, he focused on his breathing to try and calm himself down and give Rey ample time to adjust to the literal intrusion of his penis. Rey had always been tough, recovering faster than he thought she would, pushing herself down lower on him. Ben groaned into her hand as his eyes flicked between her tight face and his penis slowly disappearing inside of her.

By the time he felt her bottom out, settling herself completely onto his lap, he wasn’t sure how much longer he’d last. His 4,000 nerve endings on his penis where being overwhelmed by the warmth and wetness that was all Rey, making his mind swirl and a burning knot begin to build in his stomach.

Rey breathed in deeply, using her hold against his mouth to keep herself sitting up as she adjusted to him inside her. Ben looked away from where she was fully seat on his, looking back up at her face. The thought finally donning on him that she didn’t want him talking, he pushed a thought out towards her, _Are you ok?_

The second he did that though, they both groaned as their minds connected and shared what they were feeling. He felt Rey clench around him as she tightened her legs against his hips, her hand adding even more pressure to his mouth. Ben eyes had nearly rolled back, but he fought against the pleasure of the moment to make this pleasure last longer.

As soon as Rey was consciously able to, she slammed the wall back up into place, “Let’s get through our first time without the Dyad stuff, Ben. So, shut up.”

Ben nodded his head at her eagerly, wanting to make this experience the best for her. Rey then adjusted how she sat, adding friction as she got her legs under her better. Then, it was like every nerve ending he had was being stroked, his mind swirling as she lifted herself up. The warmth and liquid making her movement smooth as she lowered herself back down with a moan. His mind was rushing so much that he didn’t even realize he’d made a noise even though he must have considering she did.

Suddenly, everything seemed to move too fast. Rey started raising herself up and then dropping back down hard and with fervor, driving Ben’s hand to unclench from the sheet and grab her thighs. He had no choice but to let Rey take whatever she wanted as she did all the work, gliding herself up and down on his penis. If he did want to protest, which he certainly did not, he couldn’t form any words. Not that he could say anything with her hand in the way, so he just settled to groaning into her hand.

He wanted to believe that this lasted longer than it did, but he doubted it as the knot grew hotter and tighter within his stomach. Then, it became too much for him to bear and it exploded within him, the blinding pleasure shooting up and down his spine as he ejaculated inside of her with an almost growl coming from within him.

With Ben finally blinked himself down from his orgasm, Rey had climbed off of him and was breathing hard beside him. He tilted his head to look at her, exhaustion tugging at his mind. He’d read that because of the chemicals that were released during sex and his orgasm, he couldn’t help but drift off. His way of drifting off though had him skimming the outer edges of Rey’s mind, and while she had enjoyed their intercourse, she hadn’t orgasmed.

Widening his eyes, he pushed back against the sleep that tugged at his mind to roll over onto his side. Tentatively, he reached out and brushed a few strands from her face before letting his hand rest against her neck. She tilted her head towards him with a smile, “Did you enjoy yourself?”

Ben chewed on his lower lip, not wanting to voice something like that, “Am I allowed to talk now?”

Rey rolled her eyes and playfully shoved at his chest which did absolutely nothing, “You’re a doofus.”

He couldn’t help but raise his brows at that, “Did you just call me a doofus? Really?”

Rey smiled huge as she nodded her head, “If the lightsabers blue…”

Ben shook his head, his mind still feeling buzzed which let a huge smile snake its way to his face. At first he hadn’t realized his smile was showing off his dimples and teeth until Rey seemed fixated on his cheeks and mouth. Wiping that from his face, he thought back to all those lessons and decided exactly what he wanted to do. While his penis had 4,000 nerve endings, there was a part of her that had twice that which would bring her to orgasm as long as she let him.

He looked from her face to his hand, letting it stretch out across her throat before going lower. He very much wanted to feel her tiny breasts under his hands, but they would have time for more of that later because he was still fighting the chemicals in his brain at the moment. Letting his hand slide between her breasts, heavily gliding across her skin as he passed her bellybutton to run through the coarse hair until finally finding its destination.

Rey’s body jumped as his hand ran down her mound, one of his heavy fingers trailing between her vaginal lips. It slipped low enough to feel where his semen was dribbling out of her, getting some on his fingers before sliding back up to the small nub. As his middle finger barely brushed it, her whole body jerked again.

Her eyebrows went upward as he barely brushed it again, not exactly sure what he’s doing. “I wanted to bring you pleasure…” he muttered dumbly.

She studied him before letting her left hand move down to where his was. “Then do it like this,” she said and began to move his finger in a circular motion. “And when I tell you to go faster or add more pressure, do it.”

He nodded his head eagerly again, actually happy that she was letting him try this. When she removed her hand, he slowly began to use the pad of his middle finger to rub her circularly. At first, Rey just stared at him before her head tilted towards the ceiling as her eyes fluttered closed. Without her watching him, he kept his eyes focused on her to retain the way she moved to memory to keep with him forever.

“Faster, Ben,” Rey muttered and Ben complied, increasing his speed slowly so as not to overwhelm her. As her breathing picked back up, he couldn’t help but take it upon himself to add more pressure which got her body to stiffen slightly. “Keep going,” she breathed out.

Ben did exactly what she wanted, increased his pace and pressure at each of her commands. He didn’t even stop when his hand began to ache, pushing through it because this was about her. His love. While he was usually amazing at keeping track of the time, it was completely lost to him from the moment Rey kissed him on the dune. He just did whatever it was she wanted until he could feel her body tighten.

Then, he watched her whole heartedly as she finally reached her orgasm, the muscles by and under his hand spasming.

Her eyes were closed with her head thrown back, her mouth opened in an O shape. Her fingers had dug into the blankets, her back arching as her toes curled. While she had been making small noises before this, absolutely no sound came out of her now. If his erection could have returned, he would have been hard once again. After he rubbed her through her climax, she grabbed his hand to pull it away from herself.

Holding his hand to her chest, he waited patiently for her breathing to even out all while watching her all the same. She’d given him a chance to recover and he was doing the same for her, granted he was probably a lot weirder with his staring.

When she did come back down, she looked to him with a smile, “Wow…”

“That was… Ok…?” he asked and chewed on his lower lip again.

“More than ok,” Rey said before she stretched her arms up and out like a cat. Then, she pushed herself up and out of bed, wincing slightly as she took a step. Ben sat up then, but Rey waved a hand at him, “I’m fine. Just sore.” She then picked up her undergarment and his shirt she’d thrown, slipping them into place.

“Are you sure?” Ben asked, studying her with worry and letting her know this.

“Yes,” Rey said and shook her head. “You want your clothes?” Ben shook his head and she smiled huge at him, “I forgot you like to sleep naked. Why is that?”

Ben felt a blush searing his face as he shrugged, “I always have, I guess.”

Rey hummed as she climbed back onto the bed, hitting the switch next to her to send them into darkness. Ben couldn’t see her, but he could feel her moving closer to him and shoving at him. When he didn’t go down like she’d hoped, she used the Force to pin him to the bed and climbed half a top of him. “Goodnight, Ben…” she trailed with a yawn.

“Goodnight,” he spoke and laid there for a few moments before he finally let sleep take him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not quite sure if I want more smut next chapter to get things from Rey’s perspective because she’d definitely use different vocab than Ben! Let me know if you’d like a little something or not!
> 
> By the way, Ben is such a bottom to me!!!!!!!!!!!!!


	12. Cleaning Is Not Fun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone!!  
> I'm a day early, I know... But... I had an awful day and writing helps cheer me up... Sorry if it's crap!  
> Also, alert me to spelling and grammar errors because there's probably a bunch!

Rey woke up with a warming heat pressing down on her, blinking her eyes open and blowing at the hair that covered her eyes. At first, she didn’t realize how her hair was like that if she was flat on her back until she noted the hair was jet black instead. Adjusting her body under his heavy one, Ben muttered something in his sleep and rolled off of her.

She couldn’t help but frown at the fact that her own personal heater was no longer fully touching her, leaving her feeling chilled as all they had was a simple sheet that she couldn’t recall ending up on them. Rolling onto her side, she cuddled up against his heated body and hummed her contentment. The desert was hot, but the Falcon was cool as light air blew throughout the ship.

His skin was bare and hot under the thin sheet and she stretched her arm over his tight stomach, wrapping around his waist. She nuzzled into his arm as he didn’t respond to her cuddling, still being trapped in sleep. Gently, she prodded his mind, finding odd pleasure in the buzzing sound that came from his head. Still, what she wouldn’t give to see if she could see what he was dreaming about.

Bringing her face up from his arm, she reached over to turn the lights on to their dimmest setting. It wasn’t enough to wake him, but enough for her to see his features before she curled back against him. She looked at him carefully, seeing his face that was usually serious and impassive turned to one of relaxation and peace. He looked younger in his sleep, not seeming to be ten years her senior now.

As she pulled him in closer, she lazily brought her bare leg over his and shivering as she touched the cool metal of his right leg. She’d never actually felt his leg before, this new one, and he usually kept it away from prying eyes as he felt ashamed to have it. It was oddly… Nice?

Brushing her foot over his actual leg, she loved the warmth and feel of Ben’s flesh as well as the hair that was sported there. His metal leg though provided contrast that sent a tingle over her flesh. Both of these legs were entirely Ben, however odd that may have sounded.

Temptation got the best of her and she brought her foot up, touching where his skin met metal, letting her toes map it. It didn’t feel disgusting or swollen from the weight of him, although that could have been because he’d been resting it all night. She let her foot rub where they touched before she adjusted her leg and brought her knee up higher, nearing it to his hips. That’s when she felt it.

Her head jerked up to Ben’s face, but he remained locked in sleep, not stirring as she shifted her knee and touched his cock again. He was half hard, his cock twitching as her bare skin touched his. Licking her lips, she shifted her hand from around his waist back to his bellybutton before trailing lower. He had a line of hair trailing downwards towards where more of his hair laid and then her prize.

She let her nails trail down his skin and hair, his body shifting as he whipped his head back to face her. It was almost like he felt her mind there in his sleep and had to reach out back towards her, but his mind never came to hers. When her hand touched his hardening cock, she couldn’t help but let her nails dancing across his skin which got his whole body to jerk slightly. The jerk from him startled her and she retracted her hand for a second before reaching back out and touching him once more.

She was slow and tentative, wrapping her small hand around his quickly growing hard on. Gingerly, her hand went up to the tip where precum was gathering, getting some on her hand before sliding back down. It wasn’t as slick as his fingers had been when he’d touched her last night, completely wrecking her body with the way his fingers had played her. Of course she’d told him what to do, but he was a pro at following orders and she couldn’t help but wonder why people thought he had a problem with authority.

Plus, she didn’t even want to talk about how sore she was and how he had stretched her open. The feeling wasn’t bad, but more like addicting…

As she began to move her hand at a steady pace, Ben shifted and tossed his hand and his arm that was pressed against her. She couldn’t help but move herself closer to his body, flushing herself with him before she stretched up and kissed the skin at his neck.

A brilliant thought hit her then and she moved up higher to the spot on his neck that had made him wiggle last night, pressing her lips there. A delicious whimper escaped Ben’s lips as he wiggled and jerked his hips into her hand. Smirking to herself, she couldn’t help but suck that spot red all while Ben whined and wiggled even harder, still not waking.

When she finally released the spot of red flesh, she started on a new spot as her hand continued its languid movement until Ben finally seemed to be waking up. Her hand stalled, but still wrapping around his full cock which had even more precum bubbling up on the tip now and twitched every few drags of her hand.

“Rey…” he mumbled, tossing his head back towards where her mouth was and causing their heads to collide lightly. His voice was fuzzy and filled with sleep, “Wha’re you doin…?”

“Nothing…” she mumbled innocently as she could, trying to make it seem believable.

The corner of Ben’s mouth twitched ever so slightly upward as a fierce blush spread from his cheeks down his neck, “Your han is doin s’methin…”

“Guilty,” Rey admitted and kissed his cheek as she dragged her hand back downward, reveling in the way he moaned quietly. “You’re really quiet, you know that?”

Only after that sentence did he peek an eye open at her, squinting into the light as his mouth twitched again. “No need in making unnecessary noise. Or speaking without needing to,” he spoke in a way that showed he was almost fully awake now and she might have to stop touching and kissing him, something she did not want at the moment.

Rey hummed and leaned into him, pressing her mouth against his firmly before opening her mouth. They both had morning breath as their tongues laved the other, but neither seemed to mind and Rey took this distraction to rub up and down on his hard length once more. She swallowed up his moan before his hand caught her wrist, stalling her movement.

“I thought you wanted to clean today?” Ben asked, turning his head away to break the kiss. This just gave her better access to his neck, so she leaned in and sucked another spot to redness all while he wiggled.

“You’re ticklish,” Rey smiled against his neck.

“I am, and you’re getting off topic,” Ben squirmed as she sucked another spot before admiring the four hickies that now graced his pale skin.

“I don’t see why we can’t do this now and then clean,” She shrugged and dragged her hand up to the tip of his cock, her thumb sliding across the top as he raised his free hand to bite at it.

She then felt his mind touch at hers for a second before he looked over at her, trying to talk as her thumb continued it’s circling of the head. “You… We… I… You won’t… We won’t leave this bed, ah, if we… Start this…” he managed out before tapping her temple with his finger. “I know you, ah…”

Rey grumbled and ran her hand back down his cock, gripping the base before she finally let him peel her hand away. “You’re going to be uncomfortable all day,” she added. “You could just let me…”

“Trust me, I’ll deal,” he mumbled out and sat up, throwing the sheet off of them.

When he said that, a thought flashed through his mind and Rey reached out to grab it. She smiled to herself when she caught it before voicing it, “You get hard working out with me?”

Ben turned to face her quickly with wide eyes before they softened and she got both corners of his mouth to twitch upward, progress was progress. “This is going to be unfair now…” he muttered out and climbed just enough onto the bed to kiss her lips.

When they broke the kiss, she smirked, “I think we’ve finally evened the playing field.” Shaking his head, he stood himself all the way up and Rey was able to take in his coiled body. She couldn’t get enough of looking at his ripped body or the way his cock was almost straight up on his stomach, probably the weight from its size keeping it down a little.

Unfortunately, she didn’t get to look long as he dressed himself and then persuaded her to come from the bed so they could go and work like they had planned. And depressingly, he asked for his shirt back which he had to fight her from in a way that left her breathless with laughter.

Between the two of them, mostly Ben, they had cleaned up the kitchen and sitting area, both rooms, and a small closet type room. By then, the sun was setting and the two were now mulling around the couch as they munched on their oats since it was the easiest thing to make. BB-8 was rolling around the room, looking and poking at the old tech that sat around.

The two of them were sitting on opposite ends of the couch, Rey’s legs stretched outward and resting in his lap as he flipped through the Jedi text between bites. Despite Rey’s prodding from her feet or her mind, Ben just gave her a quirk of his lips before going back to his reading. Eventually, Rey got too bored and she plopped her bowl down onto the ground which got his eyes to flick to it.

“You’re already making a mess?” he spoke in a way that sounded amused.

“Kriff the mess,” Rey shrugged which had his eyes snapping up to hers as she adjusted herself. “You’re such a neat person.”

“I like things in order,” Ben muttered as Rey crawled herself across the couch until she was partially draped over his lap. She grabbed his half eaten bowl and dropped it to the ground, oats flying out with the landing before she batted at the text.

“Put that away and pay attention to me,” she whined while Ben raised it up and out of her reach.

“I was thinking about looking for the Kyber Caves tomorrow, I was just trying to discern a location for us,” he answered as he raised it up higher, making her climb onto his lap until she batted it to the ground. Ben gave her what she suspected was supposed to be a stern look, but he looked more amused than angry which made her poke his nose playfully. “You’re difficult,” he muttered, another twitch of his lips.

“That’s my line,” Rey said and poked his chest as she nuzzled herself into his neck, snuggling against his massive form.

“It fits you very well,” Ben said and brought his hands up, picking her hair free from the buns. Once her hair fell around her shoulders, he began to run his fingers through the waves, his nails scratching her scalp in a way that almost had her purring.

She bet he didn’t know the effect his hands were having on her, so she turned her head enough to kiss his neck. Ben tucked his chin down, trying to ward off her attack without really trying as he fidgeted in his seat. “I love how ticklish you are…” Rey trailed against his neck.

“I hate it…” he grumbled.

“Do you want me to stop?” Rey asked, pulling her mouth back, afraid she’d crossed a line and made him uncomfortable. She just loved to watch him squirm opposed to his usual stiff posture.

Ben looked to her quickly, “No, no. I… I just hate that I am. You can keep doing that, if you want to.”

Rey sat back from him, “Ben, I’m not going to do something you hate if you don’t give me explicit consent. It’s wrong to just take things. I didn’t know you hated it.”

“No…” Ben trailed and looked down at his lap, knotting his hands in his pants. “I hate that I’m ticklish, but… I really like it… When you do that…”

Rey could see his fierce blush even in the darkened room, feeling pity that he couldn’t voice something he liked without fear of something happening. Did he think she’d get angry with him? Strike him or something? All she wanted was to make him feel good. “Ok, then…” Rey trailed and pushed herself up, moving over to straddle his lap. “Then I’ll keep doing it.”

Ben’s eyes flicked up to her face, his mouth hanging open slightly before he mindlessly nodded his head. Rey could feel his cock stiffening beneath her and when she felt out, she saw that his mind was slowly filling with other thoughts. There were some of her naked, some of last night, while others appeared to be various fantasies of his. Most of which had her dominating him, only 2 or 3 of him being over her. As he became hornier, his mind would become erratic and he couldn’t seem to keep his shields up from her. Perhaps, she’d have to get him hornier more often because his mind would almost shut down.

Using one of her hands, she grabbed his jaw and tilted his head back and to the side which gave her the optimal angle to mark his neck as she liked. As first, it was light kisses to get him used to the feeling before she began to suck his skin until red appeared there. Whenever she sucked on one spot, he would squirm beneath her, bucking his hips up slightly as tiny whines would slip through his lips. At one point, she even bit at his skin which led her to feel his strong hands gripping her thighs hard enough to leave bruises.

Suddenly, a beeping noise made the two of them jump.

“Language,” Ben muttered out, bringing his head back up as Rey looked over towards where the droid watched them. He was rolling back and forth slightly next to the couch as he beeped again, causing a blush to come back to Ben’s face, “That’s not… You little…”

Rey chuckled slightly and shook her head, “You can understand him and you’re arguing with him?”

“He’s just like Poe,” Ben grumbled out and sat up straighter. “That’s not what’s…” Another round of beeping had Rey throwing her head back with a laugh as Ben’s mouth dropped open, “I am not!!!”

“Ok there big guy,” Rey said and winked at where BB-8 sat before wrapping her arms around Ben’s neck. “Why don’t we take this somewhere else?”

Ben pulled his eyes away from the droid to give her an innocent look before nodding his head. Then, as easily as he had in the forest all those years ago, he picked Rey up with two firm hands on her ass. He then walked the two of them from the living space to Luke’s old room, Ben being sure to kick the door shut loudly to keep out the noisy droid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be the Kyber Caves in the next chapter, so I'm curious about what color lightsabers you think Ben and Rey should have! Comment below if you want!


	13. Kyber Crystals

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everybody!! I hope you all are well and staying safe out there! :)  
> If you didn't notice, I have officially put an end chapter number... :( 19 should be my last chapter if I keep with my plot line currently... Sorry if that disappoints anyone...

Waking up with Rey sprawled on top of his body had to be one of the best feelings in the world, the only ones topping that would be when they engaged in sex or if she was completely nude when she slept with him. Unfortunately, Rey had a thing for sleeping clothed. It was probably because she’d spent most of her life so far as a slave on a desert planet. She probably needed to be ready for anything and did not need to be caught naked while sleeping. He couldn’t complain about her clothes though because her tiny body on top of his in any way did wonders for parts of his anatomy as he dosed this early in the morning.

Last night had been another night he would tuck away to savor with the way Rey had shoved him down, using the Force to pin him in place. He could have easily escaped her hold as she attacked his neck, but it felt too good to stop. He could think back to when he was a teenager and other kids were scared of him, thinking about how he would never find someone to be with. That nobody could stand his awkwardly large body or too big ears and nose or his awful smile long enough to do anything more than talk to him.

Now, here he was, getting ravaged by a girl ten years younger than he was and he had no choice but to let her do as she wanted with him. He truly was yielding with her, rolling with whatever she wanted at any given moment. She knew that, he knew that she knew that, yet any time she felt him become uncomfortable, she would stop. Immediately, she would ask if he was alright or if she’d gone too far, that’s just the type of loving person she was to him. How could he ever say no to her?

It took him a minute to orient himself as soft rays of light flittered inside. The rational part of his brain knew that it wasn’t as early as he believed it was because of the hole they lived in, but the other part of his brain claimed it was early with the exhaustion that tugged at him.

He rubbed his eyes and shifted under her, lifting his right hand to rub up and down her back. If he could, he would keep them in bed all day. Sex didn’t even need to play into it, just as long as they were touching in some way then he’d be content for the entire day; Jedi training be forgotten. Although Rey’s word choice would be much, much different.

As he rubbed up and down her back, he dosed off lightly because the feeling was relaxing. When he was around her, he didn’t have the nightmares that usually plagued him and so he could let himself go. That was, until the beeping from BB-8 sounded outside and the little droid slammed into the door. The sudden smack had Rey pushing herself up groggily, her brown hair mused from sleep.

“Wha…?” She mumbled and rubbed her hair back from her face as she adjusted herself atop of him.

“Good morning,” Ben spoke, raising a hand to brush some of her hair back. “I’m about to reprogram that droid.”

Rey arched a brow at him, wiping some drool from her cheek that just made her all the cuter. “Poe would kill you,” she said and poked his chest, starting to move off of him. As she did, she stopped herself before adding friction to his hips which had him instinctively bucking against her. “Does this happen every morning?”

“Just about,” Ben shrugged, tilting his head to the side. “I think that means I’m still functioning normally.”

Rey shook her head, slipping off next to him before he leaned over to press his lips to hers. Another screech from BB-8 had Rey yelling, “We’re coming!!” She then looked to Ben with a cheeky grin which had him arching his brow. “Or maybe just you…”

Ben’s body jolted as her warm hand wrapped around him, his hand grabbing her wrist, “No, it’s late enough. And we’re going to the caves today.”

“You never let me have any fun…” She whined and Ben gave her a look. “Please?”

Ben tossed his head back, “How about tonight?” Sighing, Rey obliged and removed her hand without a fuss so the two of them could get on with their day.

As usual, Ben made the breakfast since Rey claimed that she burnt even water. He couldn’t help but watch her scarf down her meal even though it was not going to get taken from her and she could get more if she wanted. He couldn’t help but think of a time when she would feel so comfortable and safe that she wouldn’t feel the need to stuff her face with every single crumb and lick the bowl or plate clean. A day like that would make him eternally happy.

Ben was still on his oats, having not touched his eggs or cooked meat when Rey finished with a satisfied sigh. She leaned back and rubbed her full stomach, “Where did you learn to cook like that? Leia?”

Ben shook his head, “Neither of parents could cook. I learned from the nurse droid as a child. Droids were nicer to me than other kids.” Instantly, he regretted sharing that as a wave a sadness washed over Rey at his lonely childhood.

Then, she perked up and leaned her elbows on the table to lean closer to him, “Can I do your hair?”

Ben’s brows shot sky high as he studied her carefully before pointing his spoon at her, “Not your buns, right? Those are your signature.”

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Rey chirped and flung herself from her seat to scurry up behind him.

Ben felt her deft fingers working themselves through his hair, gently brushing out the knots along the way. Her nails would occasionally scratch his scalp and he couldn’t help but lean into it, allowing himself to sport a new erection at the feeling. Rey would insist it was because he didn’t allow her to take him in hand and work him to completion while Ben knew that it was because he always craved her touch, affection not being a luxury that was always given when he was young.

While he wasn’t quite sure what she was doing as her fingers nimbly began to work, sectioning his hair. He didn’t complain as he ate his oats, not even when she tightened his hair at times and pulled at his scalp. He sat there, in silence, letting her work as he ate his meal and drank his water. He used this time to think of where the caves could be considering Jedi’s were known to try and hide them. Kyber could be used to power other things, which they wanted to protect, so even the texts weren’t detailed as to where they would be.

Just as he was finishing his meal, Rey took a few steps back with a, “Ta-da!”

Ben swiveled his head around to look at her, not having his bangs fall into his face as he did this, “And…?”

“Look for yourself,” she declared and pointed to the metal surface of the desk which would have to be his mirror as he inspected her work.

He pushed himself up, heading towards it before taking in her handy work. She had separated the top layer of his hair in order to braid four different sections against his skull before ending the collection into a bun. He had to admit, he didn’t not like the look of his new hairstyle. It was nice to not have his hair falling in front of his face every few minutes, and the tightness on his scalp actually felt kind of nice.

Nodding his head, “I like it.”

“Really?” Rey asked and toed the ground with her boot. “I’m not the best at braiding, but I thought they would suit you.”

“I really do like it,” Ben admitted and crossed over towards her, wrapping his arms around her waist to pull her in. “If you want, I can give you some tips on braiding.”

Rey narrowed her eyes at him, “You know how to braid?”

“My mother always did like them,” He shrugged.

“You never cease to amaze me, Ben Solo,” Rey said before she pushed herself up onto her toes and pressed her lips firmly to his mouth.

A beep from BB-8 had the two pulling apart and Ben giving him a look, “Actually, we’re going in search of the Kyber caves. A journey you are not welcome on.”

BB-8 pulled his head back and beeped at him which just made Rey laugh.

Ben didn’t know having sex two nights in a row would make him this sore as they made their way up the dune to where he thought the cave should lie. His legs ached while his abs contracted at every slip of his foot, the sting not being unpleasant. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so sore over something that seemed so simple. Obviously Rey was sore as well, but in other places too as she lagged behind him up the dune.

He reached a hand back to her, which she grabbed gratefully as she slipped in the sand, then he pulled her towards him. As easily as he’d done last night, he picked her up to wrap her legs around his waist as she rested on his back. She was breathing hard as she thanked him through their bond before he began to climb again, leaning forward on his hands more so he wouldn’t chance falling backwards and hurt his love.

The sand was hot, nearly burning his hands, as he climbed further and further up. He was thankful they’d left BB-8 back at the dwelling because the poor droid would be sinking in the sands if he were here. Then, just when he thought he couldn’t go any further, they came to a flat part in the sand and beyond that laid a cave. A Kyber Cave right here on Tatooine.

He was breathing hard as he eased Rey down from her spot on him. For some reason, he couldn’t help but think that getting up here was a test for young Padawan’s. Perhaps carrying Rey was cheating on her part, but they were one together, so he decided not to think too much on it.

Ben bent forward on his knees and sucked in a deep breath as Rey moved closer, heading to the darkness of the cave opening. “It’s chilly,” she spoke back at Ben as he regained himself and moved to where she stood now.

As he stepped up next to her, he felt the coolness that spread from it and actually tingled his cheeks. His sweat beginning to add a chill to his skin as the air brushed it. The cave was out of place on this hot planet, causing the two of them to sweat just from stepping outside. It was an eerie feeling to have hot pressing onto your back while cold brushing your front, almost as if the two were warring. A lot like dark and light.

In this moment, Ben couldn’t do it. He couldn’t let the Kyber decide his fate. Right now, with Rey, he felt good, but what if the Kyber told him something different? What if none of them chose him? What if they told him what he’d been thinking for a while now? That he wasn’t worthy of them.

“You are worthy, Ben,” Rey spoke from beside him, her tiny hand grabbing his own. Then, she tugged him inside and then were thrust through the darkness together.

It was as if this cave kept all the light out, even if it was still within reach, no light pierced through the cave. At first, it was stillness. The two of them, hand in hand in the darkness without any sound except their own breaths.

“Do you think the cave is empty?” Rey asked, nearly causing him to jump out of his skin at her voice all of a sudden.

Closing his eyes, Ben used the Force to feel outward before he felt it. Some little thrumming that was reaching back out. The two met somewhere in the middle before the thrumming sucked back in on itself and was gone. Trying to keep him voice emotionless at the crystal’s need to flee from him, he spoke, “There are some, you just have to reach out.”

“Literally or figuratively?” Rey muttered before he felt the calmness that was Rey. It was her presence when she slept that was touching in, nearly drowning him in its pleasantness. Then, she tugged hard on his hand, “I can feel one this way.”

Ben straightened his shoulders, stomping down his disappointment that she felt one while he didn’t, and let her drag him the way she felt one. It was as if she didn’t need light and merely let the light from the crystal guide her, following it to where it was lodged. Well, to be honest, hers wasn’t lodged that deep. It was about shoulder height for her when she finally clawed the loose rock away and grabbed what must have been the crystal reaching out to her.

As soon as she touched the crystal, the plain crystal turned yellow. It wasn’t bright like the sun, it was a soft and warm glow that spread outward. Ben looked from the crystal to Rey, seeing how her face literally and figuratively lit up. Her eyes were almost a gold color as they flicked from the crystal up to Ben before her beautiful eyelids cover them and she smashed her mouth against his. Letting go of his hand, she clutched at his shirt, nearly tearing it as she moaned into his mouth.

Breathing hard as he pulled back, “That color is balance. The perfect balance between studying the Force abilities and combat. You seek to drive out the dark side with your light.”

“You have to admit…” Rey trailed, her breath dancing against his lips as she stayed raised on her toes. “That part’s true when it comes to us.”

“Indeed,” Ben said and looked down at her softly glowing crystal. Feeling a slight pang in his chest, he couldn’t fail in front of Rey and show that he was never destined for such a feat like she was. “Go and wait outside, I’ll meet you out there.”

Her brow furrowed slightly, “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” he insisted and nodded his head towards the opening. “Go. Bask your crystal in the glory of the sun.” She smiled at him, giving him another peck before she did what he said and left him alone.

Without her crystal here, he was thrust back into the darkness and was sure to block his mind from Rey’s. After all, he hadn’t quite figured out what would happen if he wasn’t worthy. Could he really face Rey when the truth came out? That he was never allowed to be exactly what he was…

Gingerly, he reached back out through the Force and took a careful step deeper into the cave. There weren’t many crystals here, that he could tell, or maybe they were all just afraid of him. Each time he could sense one and reach out towards it, it would also silence itself or yank itself back with everything it had. Everything always seemed to come so easy to Rey. Not that he wasn’t happy about that, but at times it always made him feel utterly inadequate.

After minutes passed, him walking in complete darkness while occasionally bumping into a wall, he felt another thrumming. Sighing, he pressed himself towards it and felt it shrink back. Then, to his surprise, it shot itself back at him and nearly knocked the air out of him. At first, Ben couldn’t believe exactly what was happening as he felt out for the crystal and walked to where it lay.

This crystal was low, him having to go to his knees and dig into the earth beneath his feet. It was deep in there, forcing him to dig deeper and deeper until he finally had it in his grasp.

This was it. This was the moment. When he opened his hand, this crystal would show him his destiny. And so, he turned his fist upward before opening his fingers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After doing more research, I've decided to keep Rey's lightsaber yellow because sentinels were said to drive out the dark side and that's exactly what she did to Ben! So... Yeah! As for Ben... :)))))))


	14. Happy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone!!  
> So... I had planned on posting a chapter for Easter or pre-Easter! This morning, I woke up and was informed that Easter is tomorrow!!! With this quarantine, I am losing track of time! And so... Here is the chapter for the holiday! Sorry it's not too great, but I had wanted to get you guys something!  
> There will be another chapter on Wednesday! :)

Rey had heard of the term making love, but she didn’t really know what it meant until now. The night they got back from the cave, Ben laid her down and made love to her. His hard cock moved achingly slow in and out as he loomed over her. His massive body was over hers, though the weight from him was not entirely on her as his elbows braced on either side of her.

With each slid inside, he went all the way to the hilt and seemed to touch the very end of her. The wetness that was her coated his cock, making the movement smooth and added a ‘squelching’ sound whenever he reached the end. When she controlled the speed it was fast and hard, but he was taking his time to savor this feeling as their mouths explored each other’s.

Rey didn’t mind this, spreading her legs to wrap around his hips and push him in as deep as she could. With every thrust, a tiny whine would slip out and enter his mouth just to have a grunt be tossed back at her. She could only think this new position was driven by his own crystal that he still hadn’t shown her the color of, keeping it tucked in the pocket of his pants.

Then, before she was even prepared for it, Ben slipped inside her head with an especially deep thrust. She cried out at both sensations, pulling her mouth from his to express exactly how she felt. He kept his head raised, his black hair dancing around her face since she had tugged it loose from the braids. With his mind in hers, she could feel exactly what he felt. Her warmth and softness that gripped him, while he probably felt the stretching and fullness that came whenever his cock was inside her.

He didn’t say anything, the two just basking in what the other one was feeling as they felt what they did. That was, until Rey felt a ball of tightness begin in his abdomen and he physically slammed his hand against the mattress in a way that she knew wasn’t from frustration, his climax was coming closer. The funny thing was, that as soon as he began to feel that, the stretching feeling began to seep outwards for her. It was as if his own impending orgasm forced her own to grow and come on quicker than she thought it would.

The tighter and hotter the ball grew inside of him, the more her insides seemed to stretch and grow. Just before it was all over, Ben’s massive hand pulled one of her hands loose from his hair to intertwine their fingers. When Ben’s ball burst and she felt the power at which his cum coated her insides it drew her own orgasm to its head, the band inside her snapping. She fluttered around him as his cock jerked and spurt inside her, a loud scream ripping itself from her as Ben groaned into her neck. Suddenly, a heavy, warm weight was pressed down on her, their limp bodies staying exactly where they were with Ben still sheathed inside her.

They were both breathing hard, sweat coating each other as they seemed to not find the ability to move which ended the two of them in a deep sleep.

When she woke up, Ben was still lying atop her and crushing her to be frank. His weight was bearing down on her and as she shifted, she still felt him inside of her. With the faint movement, his cock already began to harden again inside of her as he was still locked in sleep. As much as she was ready for another round, she was sore and couldn’t do it with his full weight on top of her.

“Ben?” Rey spoke and prodded his side. He stirred, barely lifting his head as his rumpled hair fell across his face in an endearing way. “You’re crushing me.”

“Sorry…” he slurred and rolled off and out of her, laying on his back beside her.

At first, he seemed to go in and out of sleep as his eyes fluttered before they finally stayed open. Twisting his head, he stared at her gently and he smiled. It wasn’t a quirk of the lips or a closed mouth smile, but a genuine one. His bright smile that shone like the morning sun, much like her crystal, breaking out across his face.

“What?” Rey asked, smiling at him too.

He stared at her for another second, taking her in before shrugging his shoulders, “I’m just happy.”

She shook her head, leaning over to give him languid kisses and touch his skin lightly. He kissed her back, allowing one of his hands to rest on her hip until her hand started to sink lower. She felt his hand twitch to grab it, but he stopped his movement and allowed her to stroke him as slow or fast as she wanted. Both of their juices still coated him, making the action easy and frictionless. His breath was ragged by the time he did climax and ruin their sheets, his whole body becoming tense before relaxing into the bed.

The whole next week was getting a routine down because Ben was a stickler for a routine and Rey had to admit it felt nice. First, they built their sabers, she using her bow staff as the hilt while Ben had found an older blaster of his father’s on the Falcon. Every morning, they woke up to eat, workout and practice their techniques, then lunch before they studied, and finally dinner. After dinner, they’d spend some time either cleaning or relaxing with one another. When the evening rolled around though, Rey couldn’t wait any longer and would jump him. Out of the 10 times they’d had sex so far, he was only on top for 1 of them and she knew that he probably preferred it that way.

The part that had to annoy her the most, even if it shouldn’t, was his saber. He was careful when they practiced, being sure that he didn’t ignite it and merely practiced the motions with her. Part of her was curious as to what his color was because that would give her insight. When she had showed Ben her finished work, he had explained everything there was to know about her yellow saber.

According to what Luke had told him, Sentinels were there to keep the balance between the Consular’s and Guardian’s. While Guardian’s were more of soldiers, using physical strength, the Consular’s relied more on their Force abilities. She seemed to fall somewhere between the two, having the perfect balance all while trying to drive the dark side from existence as he put it. It was fitting she thought.

And this day was just like all the rest before it, until dinner came around.

Rey was fiddling with an old tech player, BB-8 waiting by her side as Ben cooked something in the kitchen. She used her screwdriver on the bottom side before flipping it and hitting a button that looked as if it would power the thing up. Somehow she was right and a soft tune came from the tiny device.

“It’s a music player?” Rey asked and picked up the small thing, almost being able to hold it in one hand.

“Apparently,” Ben spoke from behind her before she heard the familiar click of him finishing it up. Then, his footfalls as he came up behind her and he rested his large hands on her shoulders. Leaning down, he rested his chin on the top of her head, “What music is on there?”

“To be honest, this tech is too old for me,” she offered and held it up for him to examine.

Ben picked it up easily, “You make me feel old.” Setting it down, he clicked a button to let more music come out, this one even having some lyrics. It was in a different language though, so neither of them knew what it was saying. When he clicked to the third song though, he perked up, “This song… My mother loved this song…”

Rey narrowed her eyes at the small device, the lyrics were foreign to her since it was in another language, but she recognized the piano as one of the instruments in it. “What song…?” she started, but never got to finish as Ben pulled her from her seat.

He pulled her in closer, grabbing her hand with his right one as his left arm wrapped around her waist. Then, he began to walk her around the room to the beat as the foreign language serenaded them. It was a female voice that came from it, but Ben’s deep voice was humming along with the song as she allowed herself to be waltz about. She couldn’t help it as her hand rested on his chest instead of his shoulder as they swayed together while BB-8 circled them.

Licking her lips, “What are the lyrics?”

Ben cleared his throat, shaking his head slightly as he continued to hum deeply. There was something, a twinge of a thought or was it a memory? Even if she was getting better at reading his thoughts, some still alluded her and so she had to let it pass without ever knowing what it was…

She lost track of how many songs they danced to, dinner be damned. Perhaps they could have continued to dance all night, but the longer they swayed, the more Ben seemed to be taking her all in until the tension between them exploded.

Ben had gathered her back up in his arms, just like the first time he was on top of her and kissed her passionately. Then, he’d carried her as easily as he always did to their room where they fell into the sheets and he thrusted into her so deep that her spine arched off the bed. She was thankfully she hadn’t done his hair that day because her hands were tangled in the mess of his waves as she scrambled to hold onto something to keep her grounded as she reached her high.

~

“No, no,” Rose mumbled as she typed the keys and poked at the screen. The page then appeared on her holopad and she fled the control room, rushing to where Poe should be. She slid through the bustle of bodies, nearly tripping as nobody moved for her. The few people that paid enough attention to her just gave her dirty looks as she bumped into them.

Then, a solid hand had a grip on her arm, nearly yanking her shoulder from its socket as she was stopped.

“Where are you off to?” a deep male voice spoke, drawing her eyes to Jerome.

“I need to speak to Poe and Finn,” Rose answered and turned, expecting him to let go of her arm. With the first step though, he didn’t release her arm causing her to turn back to look at him.

“What about?” Jerome asked, clearing his throat as he held her firmly.

“General things, Jerome,” Rose said and tugged at his hold all the while people bustled around them, having their own business to attend to. Even though they had finally defeated all of the Sith, their job wasn’t quite done. “Let go of me.”

“It’s just a question, Rose,” Jerome said and offered her a smile, though it didn’t look genuine.

She was quickly beginning to become uncomfortable, an unsteady feeling pooling in the bottom of her belly. “Well it’s none of your business,” Rose spat and yanked at her arm again, but his grip only tightened as he yanked her towards him. Her body slammed into his, his hot breath pressing down on her as he spoke.

“Poe doesn’t scare me and neither does Kylo. That brat is long gone now,” he growled out.

Fear danced up and down her spine, but she set her shoulders, “I know it was you that riled everybody up, Jerome. Just when everybody started settling down. I kept my mouth shut, but…”

“But what?” Jerome asked with an unfeeling chuckle. “What could you, or Poe, or even _Kylo_ do to me?”

“I’ll tell Poe about this,” she said and gestured to the tight grip on her arm.

“And…?” Jerome asked with an arched brow. “It’ll be a he said, she said situation. Nothing will come of it. Poe may be the _General_ , but I have sway with other men. After all, I’m not… Well… You know.”

Rose’s brow furrowed, “Not what?”

Jerome got a sick smile on his face then, “You don’t know? But you’re around him so much that I thought you’d realize it.” Her brow stayed screwed up as she opened her mouth to speak, but he opened his mouth to speak first, “Rose, just tell me this important business.”

Rose clenched her jaw, hating that he thought he could have power over her and so she slammed the heel of her foot down on Jerome’s. That got him to loosen his grip just enough for her to yank hard, and flee down the corridor.


	15. The Gathering

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone!! I love the love!  
> I'm a day early again, I know! But... Any day now I will have a tiny human with me and so I will not be able to post! Because of this, I will not be posting a chapter next week! I am sorry!!! I will try and get another one out by the 29th, but will not make any promises on that! Sorry again!!!!!!!!

The sudden clank of something outside stirred Ben from his sleep, but not Rey from where she lay locked in a deep sleep from their long embrace after their dance last night. Untangling himself from the sheet, he grabbed his saber and flung the door open, clothes still rumpled on the floor as he slid across it. Surprisingly, his metal foot slid just as easily as his bare one and didn’t make any noised as he did so. As he slid into the kitchen, his eyes widened and his whole body went stiff.

There, their three friends were. One was digging through the fridge with his droid hovering next to him while the other two sat at the table. With his movement, all three turned their heads to stare at him, the jaw of the only female in the room nearly hitting the floor as he stood there stark naked. Rose’s cheeks went rose pink and Finn quickly adverted his eyes, all the while Poe looked him up and down carefully as he drank their Bantha milk straight from the bottle.

Mortified at sliding in the room naked and barefoot, Ben could do nothing else but stand there. His legs were parted, showing every inch of him while he held his saber out which was still not lit because there was no longer a threat.

Licking his upper lip to get the milk that sat there, Poe spoke, “Looking good there big guy, but you’re holding your blaster wrong.”

Ben’s eyes flicked between where Poe was smirking at him, Rose was blushing profusely while still staring at him, and Finn could barely look at him. After a solid minute, the only thing to come from his mouth was, “It’s my saber.”

“Oh is it now?” Poe asked before winking at Ben. “Looks good.”

He felt his face blush crimson as he spoke a meek, “Thanks…” Poe inclined his head and cheered the bottle towards him, so Ben let his saber slump by his side. Clearing his throat, “Did you need something, or is this a friendly visit? I can go get dressed.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Poe said with a wave of his hand at Ben before his eyes seemed to focus on something else, just a tad lower than his face. “She’s a biter?”

His face immediately flushed as his hand grabbed at the skin on his neck, knowing there were probably 6 or so bruises that Rey has sucked or bit onto his neck. She mostly sucks on his neck though because she loves the way he fidgets and wiggles his hips. He doesn’t mind because it’s like she’s claiming him. With Leia and Han, their claim on him was his blood, as was Luke’s. With Snoke, it had been his cruel mind and hands. He’d been scarred and tortured by the man for years until, with the help of his love, he had freed himself.

With Rey, he enjoyed her claim on him. The licking, sucking, and biting of his neck made her declaration that he was hers with a thrill of sensations that had him exposing his neck for more. He stumbled out some sounds, not knowing where to go with them before heard the familiar shuffle of feet.

Twisting, Rey shuffled into the room wearing her panties and Ben’s large shirt. Brushing her disheveled hair from her face, she spoke, “Ben?” Her eyes went wide when she saw their guests before she glanced to Ben with a huge smile on her face, then she rushed the three before them.

Ben watched as she hugged the three of them fiercely then, to his shock, Poe actually came up to hug him even in his state of undress. He bent awkwardly at the waist to accommodate his short stature, eternally happy that he didn’t have an erection like he did most mornings. Of course, Poe probably wouldn’t have minded, but Ben would have probably died of embarrassment if he did.

“You know,” Poe started as he tucked the milk away. “I really wished this was a purely friendly visit. We had been meaning to come here a few days after you two arrived, but we got held up.”

“It’s understandable,” Ben said simply before pointing away. “Do I have a…?”

“What’s wrong?” Rey asked and Ben closed his mouth, breathing out through his nose.

“First Order sympathizers,” Rose said and dug in her bag, pulling out her holopad. “I got this information about the planet Dandoran.”

She handed it over towards Rey, who tapped away at the screen all while drawing Ben closer. His saber was hanging loosely in his right hand as he pressed his form up behind her and rested his left hand on her hip. Dipping his head down, he read through the information alongside Rey.

It was a pretty normal planet with green lands and oceans, nothing like the desert thankfully. It had been used by smugglers since it was in Hutt space, but after the Galactic Civil War, not many smugglers used it anymore. With each swipe of the screen, different pictures came up and showed Stormtroopers. They hadn’t enslaved anybody, but their business didn’t look friendly. When the second to last picture came up though, his stomach dropped because he’d recognize those women anywhere.

“From what we can tell…” Rose started, but Ben interrupted.

“General Amret Engell and General Bellava Pamadee,” he said simply and clicked to enhance the picture. He couldn’t tell what the two were doing, but with them involved, it couldn’t have been good. “Bellava,” he started. “She studied all the main battles in the Clone Wars and Galactic Civil War. Her extensive knowledge made it easy to… Well… Win.”

“And the other one?” Finn asked.

Before Rey could, Ben swiped to the last picture and nodded his head, “Engell, she took over with the collection and programming of children into Stormtroopers.” Rey twisted away from the screen to look at him before her eyes shifted back to where children were being taken into some compound. Her eyes then flicked up to Finn, who shifted uncomfortably. Ben’s throat went dry at the realization before he looked to Finn, “I’m sorry. I will do anything that I…”

“I’m sorry Ben,” Poe started and ran his hand through his slicked hair. “But you can’t help us.”

“You’re joking?” Rey snapped. “Together we’re…”

“I know, but things are still rocky back at the base. I can’t… I can’t risk…” Poe stumbled out and shook his head, looking at the ground.

Suddenly, Ben felt a strong emotion and his eyes flicked to where Rose was now picking at her nails. Had she always done that? No. As awkward as Rose was, she was confident in herself in ways Ben would never be. Deep down, he knew that he shouldn’t pry, but it was always second nature to him and so he did. He felt out and danced around her emotions until he physically stepped backward from her and all of them at the memory that came forward.

That monster had laid a hand on Rose… He had even bruised her arm, he could sense that inside of her, and nothing had happened. She hadn’t even told Poe or Finn or anyone… Jerome had hurt and mocked her. While that time it had just been grabbing her arm, he had been inside his twisted mind. He had seen all the things he wanted to do to Rose, the disturbing ways in which he would make her scream. This time, she’d gotten something as simple as a bruise on her arm only while next time could be something that would break her.

Ben couldn’t let that happen. Not to Rose. Not only that, but with that memory came the reveal of Poe. While Ben didn’t care for his sexual preferences, and he knew Rose and the others wouldn’t either, that didn’t mean some people wouldn’t. Unfortunately, Ben couldn’t get to Jerome without harming Poe’s standing in the Resistance. If he wanted to protect his friend, then he’d have to be smart about this… And he would, most definitely make Jerome pay. Not only that, he would meet the person he’d been calling Ben.

“Ben?” a voice came and brought his mind from that dark place.

His eyes flicked to Rey’s as he backed up more, “I’m just going to get dressed. I’ll be right back and I will listen to everything Poe has to say.” He quickly fled that place and nearly punched a wall because he had known something like this was going to happen and once again, he was powerless.

Poe was pacing while Rey, Finn, and Rose sat, and Ben stood. He was discussing what they should do and it was smart, even though Ben wouldn’t be a part of it. Tomorrow, the four of them would take off for Ajan Kloss and then head to Dandoran. From there, they would start out with the political strategy first, Poe, Finn, and Rey would go and speak to them. If that didn’t work though…

He tried not to think of that because if it came to a skirmish, who knew would die or get hurt. He didn’t want anything happening to their three friends and he most certainly didn’t want anything happening to Rey. If something happened to her then he would probably end up taking his own life from the grief that would plague him.

After their meeting, Poe spoke again about how Ben couldn’t come. As much as he wanted Ben to join them, the upper hand they would have other them since Ben knew them inside and out, he was explicit about the banishment. Deep down, Poe didn’t mean the banishment, but things were only just starting to settle down after they left. Neither of them wanted to ruin the progress and so, Ben would stay here on Tatooine.

Rey had of course objected, but Poe was firm and she knew the cost if she stayed out of this one in protest. More children would end up just like Finn and that wasn’t fair. With the decisions made, they decided to show the new comers around their tiny home.

“So this was Luke’s?” Finn asked and brush his hand across a wall as they wandered outside.

“This was his,” Rey answered, reaching out to grab Ben’s hand. She laced their fingers and tugged him along as he fought to stamp down a smile at the feeling that poured off of her. “We’ve cleaned it up as best as we can, but without the proper care that it needed…”

“It’s not in very good shape,” Rose finished.

“Unfortunately not,” Ben answered before pointing down a small clove. “The rooms are there. If you want…”

“Keep your room,” Poe interjected quickly before grinning. “The room you share and Rose will take the other. Finn and I can sleep on the Falcon, if you’re ok with that.”

Ben ducked his head, rubbing at the back of his neck while Rey picked up, “If that’s what you guys want to do.”

She didn’t seem embarrassed about the whole thing and the fact that the three of them knew exactly what they were doing in that room together. Poe just grinned at Ben while Finn and Rose exchanged a glance before chuckling slightly. The rest of the day went along the same lines. The five of them just enjoyed each other’s company, recanting stories of the past. He never spoke up though, and merely leaned back on his arms while Rey was nestled back into him between his spread legs.

Occasionally, he would kiss the top of her head or lean forward to wrap his arms around her middle and bring her flush against him. Rose always smiled when he did that while Finn and Poe always seemed to be in the middle of a playful argument about what had really happened.

When the suns had been long gone, they all decided that they should get to bed since the four of them were going to be leaving tomorrow and needed to be rested up. Rose parted first then Finn and Poe while Rey and Ben stayed in the soft glow of their living space.

Rey turned around between Ben’s legs to study him carefully while he raised his brows at her. “Are you sure you’re ok?” she asked.

Ben breathed in deeply, tilting his head back. He was in no way ok with her going off without him. She was skilled, but everything was different now. He belonged to her, everybody knew that, but what they didn’t know was that she now belonged to him. They were each other’s and now the better half was running off to save the galaxy without him, leaving him without a way of coping. “It’s for the best,” he answered finally.

Scrunching up her nose slightly, “What aren’t you telling me?”

Looking back at her, his eyes flicked between hers to judge her carefully. Nodding his head, “I’m worried. I don’t like you going off without me. I’m not meaning to be a male chauvinist, but I worry.”

“You’re not a chauvinist if you’re being protective, Ben,” Rey muttered and climbed onto his lap, straddling his hips. “You worry about me and I worry about you. I wish you were coming so I could keep an eye on you.”

“Me?” Ben asked, shaking his head. “I’m always well behaved.”

“Liar,” Rey mumbled and pressed her lips to his, pulling back ever so slightly. “Such a liar.” She kissed him again, opening her mouth to prompt him to do the same. He did as she wanted, feeling her tongue sliding against his and making him moan slightly into her mouth as his penis began to fill with blood. Why was it so easy for her to give him an erection?

She was breathing hard, as she pulled back, “Bedroom. Now.”

Nodding his head before remembering, “I was actually going to see if Poe and Finn needed anything to drink. I’ll meet you in the room in a few minutes.”

“You better hurry,” Rey giggled and kissed him again before climbing off his lap.

The two parted ways, Rey heading to their room while Ben grabbed a couple containers of water. He climbed from their hole, walking across the sand to where the Falcon sat. Unlike Rey and Ben, Finn and Poe didn’t fear people climbing aboard the Falcon and left the door open.

Shaking his head, he clomped up the ramp and inside where a certain coolness settled over him that made him feel like he was home. Poking his head inside, he didn’t see or hear either of the boys. “Poe? Finn?” he called out before he heard what sounded like a boot on the ground.

Turning to where the captain’s quarters were, he walked along and studied the containers of water. As he got to the threshold, he raised his head and stopped dead in his tracks. He felt the blush burn its way across his face, reaching the tips of his ears and down his neck at the sight before him. Deep down, he knew that he should look away, but he couldn’t seem to do that.

Finn was backed up against the wall, his head tilted back with his mouth opened in silent praise. Poe, on the other hand, was just before the younger man on his knees. Not only was he in front of the man, but he had freed his penis from his pants and currently had it inside his mouth. His head was moving back and forth, a slurping sound coming with each motion as the penis disappeared inside the depths of his mouth and throat.

His head tilted to the side and he must have made some noise because Finn nearly screamed when he saw Ben standing there. Shoving Poe away and fumbling to shove himself back into his pants, the older of the two looked to Ben with raised brows. Wiping some salvia from his mouth, “See something you like? Your crotch is signaling that you do.”

Poe was blatantly motioning to Ben’s erection that was definitely not from this situation, if anything it was actually going down now at the sight before him. Not only that, Poe was making fun of him. It was good hearted though, and so Ben decided to do the same to him. Finding his voice, “I was bringing you guy’s drinks, but I suppose you’re good Poe?”

Finn’s mouth nearly hit the floor as Poe crossed his arms over his chest with a grin, “That so.”

“Yes, General,” Ben spoke before shrugging. “Or is Finn now your superior?” Before Poe could retaliate, Ben set the water down and fled the room and the Falcon.

As soon as his feet his the sand, he nearly ran to their room. Then, once behind closed doors, he looked directly at Rey with a huge smile and laughed. He couldn’t remember the last time he laughed, really laughed like this. Maybe it was when Han was throwing him up on his bed when he was a child which had led him to levitating all his toys. Despite his power, Han had laughed that day too.

Rey looked up quickly as his chuckling laughter came from his chest and rolled outwards before he ducked his head. “You will never believe what just happened…” he laughed out.

“What?” Rey asked, chuckling slightly with him.

“I just saw Poe performing fellatio on Finn,” he spoke, keeping his head ducked as he laughed and tucked a loose strand of hair back.

“What?” Rey asked, still grinning.

“Poe and Finn were having oral sex,” he clarified, raising his eyes to the ceiling. “And I walked in on it…”

“Wait,” Rey started with a furrowed brow and raised her hand. “Poe is…?”

Ben’s eyebrows went upward, “You didn’t know?”

“I knew Finn was because… Well let’s not get into that, but Poe?” Rey asked, waving her hands around as she talked.

Ben opened his mouth, about ready to tell her it was more obvious with Poe than Finn, but instead, “Did Finn and you…?”

Rey tilted her head side to side, “Nothing actually happened.”

“But with…” he trailed off and Rey covered her face with her hands.

“I’m sorry, but it was when you were still being an asshole. I… I do have needs like every man out there.”

Ben chewed on his lower lip, “Rey, I’m not upset that you… Experimented with other men. I just can’t believe you tried it with a man who has no sexual proclivities to women.”

Rey mouth dropped open and she grabbed the nearest pillow, throwing it at him which he caught, “You’re a jerk, Solo.”

Ben shrugged as he began to stalk towards the bed, “I mean that’s like me…”

“You would never _experiment_ with women, Ben,” Rey said and crawled to the end of the bed. “I think we both know, you’ve always belonged strictly to me.”

He tossed the pillow on the bed as he stood at the end, Rey’s hands untucking his shirt to let them brush his cool skin. She seemed to tick his abs off as she went, pushing her hands upward until he had to take his shirt off. She immediately yanked it from his hold to strip her of her own shirt and put his on instead, which not only made his penis stand on end again, but he could even feel it leaking slightly.

“Well… Mr. Solo…” she trailed and pulled her pants off, throwing them off the side of the bed. “Who do I belong to?”

Licking his lips, Ben carefully leaned on the bed, grabbing her chin to crush their lips together. He breathed her in as his hand slip lower and caught her neck, not squeezing, but applying pressure. Then, he pushed her back slightly with his hold still on her neck and began to free himself from his pants.


	16. Warzone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SSSSSSOOOOOO SORRY!!!!!! Life has been literal hell for me lately, which is why this chapter took so long and isn't that great... Plus, my computer is a nightmare and it's the only one I have, so... I will hopefully have the next chapter up soon as long as my computer agrees with me.

Before they had left, Rey had been sure to leave a few extra hickeys on Ben’s neck to remember her by until she got back. She had to admit that she hated leaving Ben and he obviously didn’t want her going without him. While they’d been together, they knew where the other one was every second of the day because they did everything together. Now though, they would be far, far away from each other and she would be on a mission while he would just be alone.

The jolt from lightspeed shook her as she chewed on her nails. For some reason though, she couldn’t help but feel weird in general. She couldn’t quite tell if it was because she and Ben were now apart or perhaps she was feeling uneasy about going here in the first place. After all, they may not have all the information, which meant they could be walking into a trap.

As soon as Poe landed the ship, the four of them climbed out and Rey stretched her legs. She had to admit, even though she’d lived in the desert for years of her life, she liked this environment more than the others. It was a lush green with actual lakes! It was beautiful, a wet like heat instead of an oppressive one. She wanted nothing more than to say screw it to this banishment, bring Ben back here and the two could just live.

“Come on,” Poe said and waved her forward.

“So… We’re going to talk first?” Rey asked again.

“Talk first, shoot second,” Poe shrugged. “I want to give them a chance to surrender.”

“Should we evacuate the villagers around them? They could get caught in the crossfire,” Rey muttered as they entered the cement building where everybody else was bustling around.

“We don’t have time. By the time we do that, the Generals could be on ships,” he stopped abruptly then to look at her. “It’s not that I’m not unsympathetic, but we have to get the jump on them before…”

“But what if they already know we’re coming?” Rey asked, something just didn’t seem right. She couldn’t quite tell why she felt uneasy about this situation, but she did.

Poe’s brow furrowed, “They couldn’t possibly know that.”

“Who showed you the information?” she pressed as people weaved around them, not between.

“Rose did. Are you telling me you don’t trust Rose?” Poe bit out a little too harshly.

“No, no,” Rey said, waving her hands to help persuade him to keep his voice down. “But… I just have a bad feeling about this. It could be my Jedi senses tingling or…?”

“Or you’re missing your boy?” Poe said with a shake of his head. “Your better half or whatever it is you two are to each other…” He turned then, making it two feet before Rey had a hold on his arm.

“Who else knew about this before you did?” she asked under her breath.

“Nobody,” Poe said and yanked his arm from her grip. “Rose brought it straight to me and the informant was one of Leia’s own choosing. Now, can we go or do you plan on questioning everybody here and giving the Generals enough time to get away?”

Shaking her head, she let him lead the way towards the conference room where the nitty gritty plans were drawn up on what would happen if it did come to a skirmish. They were thorough and Rey couldn’t help but float off into the back of her mind, reaching outward. Instantly, she felt Ben grip onto her and wasn’t surprised that they could feel the other at this distance. She didn’t know what he was doing, but she could feel his unease mix alongside hers.

What was troubling him? Was it just her own that was passing into him or did he know something? If Ben knew something, he would have told them, that much she knew. As she concentrated on him, everything around her seeped away into nothing and she watched as he turned away from whatever it was he was doing to look at her.

His mouth twitched, “I thought you were in a meeting?”

She studied the way his hand brushed his dark hair back, showing his equally dark eyes. She wanted nothing more than to jump up and hug him, kiss him. This separation was already killing her, tugging at their bond in a way that left her feeling empty. Before she had the chance to speak to him, the meeting was over and he faded away.

As she boarded the aircraft, she fiddled with her lightsaber at her hip and studied those around her. Rose, Poe, and Finn were here obviously, but there were also others to man the craft after they landed. A couple women and a couple men, one she recognized as Jerome. When they caught eyes, he gave her a nod and an almost reassuring smile before going back to his datapad.

Once again, something felt off about this whole thing. Still, after she’d expressed her thoughts to Poe, he’d pretty much blown her off because there was no way they knew they were coming, right?

That was one thing about herself that caused problems: doubt. She doubted herself and her abilities at times, like this time for example. As soon as they dropped out of lightspeed, they were under attack. Poe had given the order to go in hot on just the base, stay clear of any villages nearby, but that didn’t mean casualties wouldn’t occur. Deep down, she knew she should have tried to convince Poe or Finn or Rose of her feelings, but she had chalked it up to her being nervous after being out of the game for a while.

“We need to get troops on the ground!” Poe shouted as the ship shook, another blast colliding with it.

“Get me down there!” Rey yelled over the beeping coming from the controls around them.

“Not alone!” Finn cried as he grabbed onto Rose before she was flung about the cabin.

“No offense, but alone or with others isn’t a priority,” Rey bit out, trying to keep her temper in check. If Ben had been here, perhaps none of this would have happened in the first place. He was better at sensing everything around them, much better than she was. “Someone just has to take out those cannons before all of our ships go up in smoke, alright?”

“Get us close to the ground!” Poe yelled to the pilot as they were jostled around some more. He then grabbed Rey’s arm as they dropped further into the atmosphere, dragging her towards the bay door. “You’ll have to jump.”

“I’ll manage,” Rey answered simply, pulling her saber from where it rested on her hip as her left hand hovered over the button.

With another shot at the ship, it rattled causing her hand to slam the button which threw the doors open. She barely had time to use the Force to hold herself on the ship to keep from plummeting to the ground until they got low enough for her to jump out and land safely. Although, she wouldn’t exactly use safely because as soon as she hit the ground, Stormtroopers came tearing towards her from everywhere.

The red blasts they fired at her cast sparks of light on their suits as she was assaulted. Flipping and spinning her saber, eerie orange bursts flashed as she blocked shot after shot, sending it back towards them when she could. Just as she seemed to get into the rhythm of blocking them, she heard the ship with her fellow friends come zooming back around.

As the air buzzed with the engines, something else buzzed somewhere in her mind and she knew there was a cannon aimed right at them. She didn’t know which one, making it impossible for her to locate and destroy it. Instead, she twisted and held her hand out. Using the Force she held the ship in place as a blast narrowly missed it. Just as she relaxed, a sharp pain stung her leg and she hit the ground.

~

Rey knew none of them had been prepared for this as they took heavy fire, x-wing after x-wing going down. With her shot in the leg, she couldn’t exactly run at any of them and pretty much had to will them to come to her. As she peeked up over a log, a body thumped down next to her and made her jump.

“What the kriff now, Poe?” Rey snapped, more from the radiating pain in her leg than actual anger. She should have listened to that voice nagging at the back of her head, but she had been foolish enough not to. They had been stuck here for nearly an hour now, slowly making progress on the threat, but not as quickly as they lost their own troops.

“I’m thinking,” Poe shrugged and peeked over the log as more blasts came, bits of wood flying upwards.

“Care to think faster?” she asked before reaching out with the Force, grabbing hold of a close trooper. She yanked him forward until he fell over the log and Poe was able to shoot him.

Suddenly, a feeling came over her as they heard a familiar zoom of a ship. Both of their heads shot upwards as an x-wing flew over their heads, twirling as fire began to come at it. Instead of getting hit like most of the others, it maneuvered with surprising accuracy as it fired its weapons at the tie fighters. It flipped, twirled, and zoomed through the sky in the blink of an eye, shooting down every ship in sight.

“That’s one hell of a pilot…” Poe muttered.

With one last flip, it came flying hard towards the ground before leveling out. It was aiming directly for the base, but instead of shooting, a body came jumping for the x-wing.

Rey and Poe both ducked as the x-wing blew through the concrete door, obliterating it and probably everybody inside which thankfully included both Generals. When they looked over the top of the log, the body landed and Rey would recognize them from anywhere. That large, hard, thick body clad in black pants and black shirt.

She watched as Ben flipped his black hair back, standing the middle of a group of Stormtroopers. Her need to go to him grew as he reached behind his neck and grabbed his saber from the strap across his back. Then, with a cock of his head, he ignited his saber.

It blazed out strong and long, stretching outward and letting the color dance across the ground. From where she was, it almost seemed as if it was two colors. The center was a blue, showing his ties to the Jedi Guardians, which were the soldiers. It wasn’t just straight blue though, the center of the beam was, but as it expanded outwards it seemed to turn almost a white color. White wasn’t a color she knew, but for some reason, both of those colors seemed to fit him perfectly in every way.

From here, she could see how he held himself as he faced down all the shocked Stormtroopers. She had seen it back when they faced Palpatine together, his posture was exactly how his father’s was, the confidence and cockiness that was set in those broad shoulders. It didn’t matter the distance they were from each other, she would know him from any distance. After all, part of him had always been there inside of her, making her whole.

His head twisted to look at each trooper before him as his saber was still pointed towards the ground, taking in all of his opponents. He then spread his arms out, cocking his head to the left before nodding his head with a flare of his arms. The move was like the equivalent of ‘let’s do this’.

In a blink of an eye, every single one of them shot at him which sent up so much dirt that she could no longer see him. It didn’t matter if she saw him or not because she still felt him, the ever present gray matter that floated in and around her. She knew, just like she’d known something was wrong, that he would end this once and for all.


	17. The Truth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for your love!!!! Only two chapters left... :( Unfortunately, this has to come to an end...

The blasts came at him hot and fast, but he was faster as he swung his saber with ease since this one was definitely made for him. He knew that Rey couldn’t do anything with her leg the way it was, and he should have insisted on going with them in the first place. The second she’d left, he’d felt her unease and then when she’d come down alone, he’d felt her hard fall as it seemed to rattle his own bones. Then, once she was shot, Ben nearly felt it burning through his own leg and decided that banishment was now optional with her life on the line.

He’d been quick to come here, using his abilities to his advantage and shoot down the other ships before jumping down here. Unlike everybody else, he knew that he could beat these pathetic, starved troopers. And so, he let them fire their useless blasts at him until they were sure he was dead.

As soon as they let up, he reached out and grabbed the nearest trooper to pull him directly into his saber. The blue and white heat surging through the white armor, giving him the quickest death he could before turning and catching a blast midair.

In a blink of an eye, he charged the man and swiped his saber upwards. He put his whole weight into it, cutting the trooper in half and using the Force to send one to where Rey and Poe were currently tucked safely behind a log. At least that way, Poe wouldn’t let his ego get in the way since he’d let him kill one.

Once he was sure Poe had shot the man, Ben turned and let everything fall back into place. This, right here, whether he wanted to admit it or not was what he was meant to do. He was meant to protect those that couldn’t protect themselves. He was meant to fight. He hadn’t realized all the troopers around him were dead until he heard _her_ voice wafting from behind him.

“Ben!” she cried and he turned as she attempted to hobble towards him, her leg making it nearly impossible.

With the help of Poe, she’d made it over the log, but he could see the wheels working behind his General’s eyes. He didn’t know where Finn was and so Ben felt outwards to that little spark as he rushed towards Rey. Easily, he hooked his saber behind his back before gathering her up in his arms. Looking to Poe, “Finn’s fine. He’s looking for you.”

He honestly didn’t care about the lecture Poe probably wanted to give him about a person’s personal space and instead, kissed Rey like he was trapped in the desert and she was the only glass of water in a hundred miles. Being without her for not even a full day was awful enough, but the thought of what could have happened…

“Don’t get me wrong,” Poe started, causing Ben to yank back from where Rey had wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. “I’m thankful you were here, but you weren’t supposed to be.”

“Why did you come here, Ben?” Rey asked gently and fiddled with his hair.

“You were here and you were injured,” he trailed and pulled back away from her slightly, giving her his best kicked puppy look. He knew that she could be so stubborn at times, but maybe he could sway her if he played his cards just right. “You needed me…” he trailed before moving his hand from her back to touch her abdomen. “The 3 of you did…”

As soon as the words left his mouth, he wanted to swallow his own tongue at the look she gave him. Immediately, he wanted to take it back, all of it back. Her brow shot sky high as her eyes were blow wide and even her mouth dropped open. It was obvious to him now that she hadn’t known… His mother had known the second she was pregnant, but perhaps it had something to do with her relationship to her parents that somehow hid the fact that she was pregnant with twins from even herself?

The second he’d woken up after he’d made love to her, he’d known she was pregnant and it made him inexplicably happy. Then, when he found out it was twins, he nearly fell to the ground with happiness and love. But, somehow, Rey hadn’t even known.

Her hand shakily moved down to where he was currently retracting his own as he muttered dumbly, “You didn’t know…” She shook her head as Poe seemed to have stopped breathing from behind her, which only caused Ben to numbly nod his own head, “I’ve always been more perceptive of your body than you have.”

Poe seemed to choke at those words before mumbling, “Oh… There’s Finn…” He then darted away from the two of them, Ben watching him go and throw his arms around his lover’s neck. Noting that the two didn’t kiss, Ben knew they were afraid people wouldn’t accept them for being exactly who they were.

“How long…?” she muttered out before he felt her easing into his head, so he let her know everything he knew. He let it all sink into her beautiful mind, even his thinking behind why she hadn’t known. The torn relationship, one of separation from her own parents, perhaps caused her own tear with her potential children.

Part of him didn’t know if she really wanted to hear that, but he wanted to be honest with her. After all, they were in this together. Whatever may happen after this moment, they would be doing it together and nobody would ever tear the two of them apart again.

Rey nodded her head as her eyes locked onto the ground before muttering, “As long as I’m with you, I know everything will be alright.” Wrapping her arms back around his neck, she pressed herself forcefully against him as if trying to meld the two of them together.

He let her do this before he felt Finn and Poe coming forward, breaking their embrace in order to give Finn a chance. He marveled at the way her friend held her, a deep bond joining them in ways Ben could only see.

A sudden slap had him turning as Poe brought him into a hug, muttering, “I really am thankful you were here.”

Nodding his head, “So was I.”

As the two pulled back away from each other, it was like a prick at the back of Ben’s head that had him locking onto a body. It was a feeling of unease, the same Rey had felt, drawing him away from his friends. He could hear them speaking to him, but he didn’t pay much attention to their words as pure instinct led him to the lone body. Reaching behind his back, he drew his saber, but didn’t ignite it.

“You caused this, didn’t you?” Ben spoke and watched the body stiffen before turning.

Jerome’s eyes flicked between Ben and where the others were coming forward, “I don’t understand. You’re blaming me for this? You were the one that broke your banishment!”

“And who put me there?” Ben asked calmly, despite having drawn his saber. “You were loyal to the Resistance, I know you were loyal to my mother. Still, you were never loyal to Poe. Why was that?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Jerome spat out venomously. “I have given everything for this cause while you only gave enough to get laid!”

Ben was about to start again before he paused, “How did you know that?” Jerome’s eyes widened at his slip up while Ben merely nodded his head. “I understand now, why you wanted me banished,” he spoke clearly, but loudly as a crowd formed. “Between Rey and me, only I would sense your deception towards Poe. You knew this, which is why you had me sent away to keep this secret under wraps.”

“I have no ill will for the Resistance!” Jerome cried.

“Just Poe,” Ben said, glancing back to his friend, asking for permission. He could see the fear in his friend’s eyes at the prospect of how people would view him after they knew the truth. With a reassuring nod, Poe relented and gave his consent. “You never wanted to follow a homosexual man. That’s why you did what you did. You probably hoped to kill Poe in the crossfire, isn’t that right? Then you could assume command alongside Finn and maybe even do the same betrayal.”

“Poe had said…”

“The beauty of all of this is the fact that I’m firmly outside of your head,” Ben said and breathed in deeply before igniting his saber. “You put all of these people in jeopardy because you were afraid of your General’s sexual preferences?”

By this point, Jerome’s eyes were dancing around everyone as they all came in closer. Somehow, someway, Ben knew they all saw this as the truth. As much as they all tried to hide it, they all knew exactly what Jerome was and what he was capable of.

“You almost killed my love and my friends,” Ben growled out as he brought his saber up before striking down hard, hearing people all around gasp.

Jerome cried out, dropping down to his knees as he held the side of his head. The wound was cauterized, but maybe losing an ear would help with his ability to follow orders. Glancing towards the severed ear, Ben fought for control and somehow found it as he tucked his saber away. Turning back towards Poe, he gave the nod of his head that he was done with his rashness.

Stepping forward, Poe squatted down in front of Jerome, “You had so many of our people killed just to keep me from leading. Anybody else would have you executed for your crimes… I’m not one of those people. Jerome, I hereby banish you. You are no longer welcome on any planet that the Resistance has a strong hold of. This will be permanent.”

Despite the pain he was feeling, Jerome mumbled, “Don’t do this…”

“It’s already done,” Poe said with a shake of his head. “I pity you, Jerome. You are truly lost.”

“General…” Jerome seemed to almost plead quietly.

“This is a mercy,” Poe answered before pushing himself up and clapping his hands, everybody knowing that this was his final decision.

Jerome cried out and lunged upward at Poe, nearly catching his neck, but Ben held his hand out. Using the Force, he held him in place and allowed other soldiers to come. They weren’t gentle as they shoved him down to his knees and locked his hands behind his back with their cuffs. The true traitor was then carried off, screaming profanities back at where Ben stood just behind Poe, Finn and Rey just behind him.

Poe then turned to look at Ben, “I guess you saving my life can only mean one thing?”

Ben’s brow furrowed before he heard clapping coming from all around him, causing him to jerk his head to see each and every person there smiling at him.

“Ben Solo, son of scoundrel Han Solo and General Leia Organa, Prince of Alderaan, Jedi knight, and best pilot in the galaxy,” Poe began with a smirk that had him standing there in utter disbelief. “I lift your banishment, from now and until the end of time. You are welcome anywhere within the Resistance, if you’ll still have us.”

Ben was frozen, stuck in one place as the whole world seemed to slow down around him. Did he really just hear that? Not only was his banishment lifted, but did they all see him as those things? Poe was considered the best pilot, but was now telling him that he was. With his mother gone, he was heir apparent to her, being named Prince of Alderaan even if the planet didn’t exist anymore. Then, the most shocking of them all, he was a Jedi knight. They all were excepting him to be alongside Rey, keeping balance and peace around the galaxy.

His mouth had gone dry, but he somehow uttered out, “It would be my honor.”


	18. Hearts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone ssssssoooooo much!!!!  
> OH MY GOSH! I'm sssssooooo sorry for taking so long on this chapter! I just couldn't get everything written with the world right now... I hope this brings some joy into your lives if you're currently missing any! I also hope everyone is still safe out there!  
> Sigh... One more chapter to go...  
> Also! Feel free to alert me to errors because I may have made a few too many in this chapter! ^_^

Even after Ben healed her leg wound, Poe had insisted that Rey got checked out in case something else was wrong. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe that Ben had healed her, it was more to make sure the baby was safe. Her Ben had been right about there being more than one baby inside her, two were there. At this stage, it was too early to tell what the genders were, but she was sure Ben had an idea on that matter as well. When it came to her, he seemed to have all of the answers.

Once she was cleared by medical, and declared healthy, she made her way back through the compound. All around, people were celebrating as they had done all that time ago. This was yet another victory for the Resistance, and hopefully this would be the end of it. It wasn’t like they didn’t have enough bodies now, with the galaxy joining them, but they honestly wanted the war to finally be over and for peace to spread.

Of course, spreading peace around the whole galaxy wouldn’t be as easy as it sounded. They would have to reach to every single planet, stretching out far across in every direction. With only two Jedi’s on their side, it wouldn’t be something that would be easily done. After all, terror was not what they wanted to bring, nor was anymore death. All they wanted was peace.

Still, that meant they’d have to fight the resisting planets, slave planets, and any other ones that didn’t agree with how they thought the galaxy should be. There was something that tugged at her mind though, if they changed everything, were they really so different from the Empire? They changed the rules and controlled everything in a way they thought was right, were they much different then? It didn’t matter if what they wanted was truly kindness and peace, they were still out to control everything.

Pushing that thought aside, she nodded her head because they were different. Very different. Hopefully, with everyone working together, no more children would know what it’s like to grow up a slave. Personally, that was her main goal above everything else. Saving those trapped in slavery and perhaps finding more of those that were in tune with the Force like her and Ben.

As she walked through the concrete corridors, she saw people all around drinking firewater and celebrating. Once again, the celebrating was more of an act she and Ben would do with each other when they were alone. There was something… Freeing to all of people around her about expressing such an act in view for anybody to happen upon easily. None of them care who they were seen with or by who, because this was what true freedom looked like.

Something that stuck with her though, as she passed the bodies, were two bodies in particular. They were close to each other, and were holding hands. She couldn’t help but tilt her head, catching Poe’s eyes, smiling at him. His eyes looked nervously down to where Finn had a firm grip on his hand as he laughed with Rose. Peeking his eyes back up, he shrugged awkwardly at her with an embarrassed smile on his face as a tinge of red came to his cheeks.

Nodding her head, she winked at him from across the room before she felt out for Ben. She followed him, like a red string was pulling them together. Out of the compound and through the tunnels, the cool night air brushed her skin as the darkness seemed to envelop her. Calm seeped into her, swam around her and made her feel even more at peace.

Even with their bond, it wasn’t hard to find him. He sat alone, under a single light, staring up at the expanse of stars.

“Rey,” he muttered and twisted his head to face her.

He didn’t stand and she didn’t want him to as she came around him. She eased herself across his lap, one leg on either side of his hips, flushing their bodies together in a toe curling kiss. Ben hummed deep in his chest as his hands caught on her shirt as they wound their way around her back to press her as close as he could.

Something seemed to pull towards him inside her body, as if it was trying to make them one if it could. It was like that red string that brought her to him in the first place, the thing that had always been there inside her. As much as she wanted to give into the pull, and try to make the two of them one, she liked them being separate.

Pulling away, she breathed deep as she leaned her forehead against his, “As usual… You were right.”

“I wouldn’t say that, I just knew. I know everything there is to know about you, always have,” Ben muttered before leaning his head back away from her to stare into her eyes.

He was looking at her with a desire he’d had in his eyes from the first time they spared each other all those years ago on Ilum. She couldn’t help but be entranced by the way he looked at her and made her feel as if she was the only thing that mattered to him. That wouldn’t be the case in the months to come of course, but she would always hold a special place in his heart and he with her.

“So…” she trailed and sat back on his thighs to create more space between them. “You’re a prince.”

Shaking his head, he lowered his eyes, but there seemed to be a twinge of a smile at his lips. “I never expected anybody else to call me that. Especially not Poe of all people, his pride and all,” he spoke in a deep voice, a voice she’d come to recognize because it resonated deep inside of her. Then, his face seemed to somber, “Then again, there isn’t an Alderaan anymore…”

Rey pouted her lips slightly, “Alderaan is gone, but you’re the last known…”

“My mother was never really from there, just…” he spoke, before she cut him off.

“You are the prince, just as your mother was the princess,” Rey insisted, reaching out to cradle his face and bring his eyes up to hers. “Perhaps… We could go and find a new Alderaan.” His brow furrowed, but before he could say anything else, she continued. “We could build anew what was lost. There has to be an uncharted, uninhabited planet somewhere. There, we could raise a new order of Jedi, together.”

His brows were tight as he studied her carefully, “Rey… We’re… There’s only two of us…”

“Two that are one. We’re enough as long as we do it together,” she said before she pushed herself up and dug inside her pocket.

Setting the small device on the nearest table, she copied the buttons he had pressed and let the piano and soft lyrics come from it. Then, she held out her hand for him to take. Like she knew that he would, he took her hand before taking her in his arms.

They were gentle, but firm as he began to dance her around the grass to his mother’s favorite song.

Tilting her head to the side, “Will you ever sing me the lyrics?”

“What fun is that?” Ben said with a hint of a smirk ghosting over his lips.

Pouting out her lower lip, he shook his head with a smile as the song progressed. Rey wasn’t sure when it would end, but all she wanted was to know what the lyrics were. She wanted it, not as much as she wanted these kids and not as much as she needed Ben. Still, it was like it was a piece of Leia the two could share together.

Finally, Ben cleared his throat, sucked in a breath and began to sing. His voice wasn’t what anybody would call good, but his deep baritone was nice to listen to, “I can’t help but love you, even though I try not to. I can’t help but want you, I know that I’d die without you.”

One more quick breath before he started again, “I can’t help but be wrong in the dark, cause I’m overcome in this war of hearts. I can’t help but want oceans to part, cause I’m overcome in this war of hearts.”

Those lyrics hit her hard, directly in her heart and she knew it hit Ben too. After all, the two of them had been pit against each other by every person they’d known. Plus, she’d felt the pain in his heart when he’d seen her lying unmoving on the ground. The way Ben seemed to slip away through her fingers, showing them exactly how empty they felt when the other wasn’t breathing and alive.

Spinning her, there were then three distinct piano notes before Ben ducked his head and lowered his voice to almost a whisper. It was almost like it was a curse, that if anybody else heard it, they wouldn’t understand. It was something that could only be shared between them, and no one else.

“I can’t help but love you, even though I try not to. I can’t help but want you, I know that I’d die without you. I can’t help but be wrong in the dark, cause I’m overcome in this war of hearts. I can’t help but want oceans to part, cause I’m overcome in this war of hearts.”

Before he could even finish humming the rest of the song, she had crashed their lips together and was tugging at his pants. With a quick swipe of her leg, his were taken out and he landed harshly on the ground. Instead of being infuriated or shocked by her actions, he merely stared up at her as if she was the entire galaxy laid before him. Somehow, she knew that he’d known that was her next move before she even knew what she’d planned on doing.

She reached outward with her mind and let them swirl around each other as she tugged her own pants off, trying to rid herself of them as quickly as she could. Ben freed his already fully hard cock from his pants before he seemed to beckon her forward, needing to feel her as much as she needed to feel him inside of her. Holding out his hand, showing his vulnerability to her this way was everything she’d ever need.

Climbing atop his lap was easy and taking his leaking cock inside of her felt as if she was complete once more, fitting the last piece of the puzzle in its place. He thrusted up inside of her as she shoved him flat on his back to hold him there, recreating the very first time they had ever had sex. Ben kept eye contact with her, as his words flowed into her mind that seemed to floating further and further away.

As usual, it was nothing vulgar, but was all kinds of sweet.

_You’re beautiful._

_Rey, you’re amazing._

_You feel incredible._

_Rey, you’re everything to me._

_You’re everything I’ve ever wanted._

His words made her tingle all the way down to her toes as she felt the bright, hot ball begin to grow inside of her and the rubber band stretching taunt inside of him. Or was the rubber band inside of herself? At this point, she didn’t quite know where he ended and she began. Their bodies, minds, and hearts were one. The two of them moved as such until they were both brought to their earth shattering climaxes, collapsing with one another in a sweaty heat despite the chill in the air.

Sleep was seconds away and neither of them could be bothered to fix how they looked, kriff the prying eyes. While still joined, one final kiss was all they had time for before they were asleep.


	19. Alderaan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you sssssoooooo much for the love!! Is quarantine still killing anybody, or is it just me?  
> This is the last chapter... Sigh...

** Five Years Later **

“Master Solo?” a soft voice filtered into Ben’s ear, making him peek an eye open.

“We’re supposed to be meditating, Nero,” he said to the younger boy, who sat across from him. He was quite small for his ripe age of 7, his blue skin and hair always making him appear much sadder than he was. Not that he wasn’t a sad child, Rey had rescued him from a planet the First Order had nearly torn apart.

“Yes, Master,” he mumbled, pouting his lips out slightly. “It’s just… I’m having trouble concentrating… The light and dark, they both…”

“Call to you?” Ben asked and breathed out carefully, trying to piece his next words together. “I was once like you, the dark and light tearing at me until I eventually gave in. For years, the dark side tormented me and drove me nearly insane. I can’t tell you which side you need to choose, for that is something you must choose for yourself, but I will give you any tools that I can to help you along with your training.”

Nero nodded his head, hopeful eyes looking up at him with wonder. Ben could feel the hope strong inside of him, and knew that darkness wasn’t in his nature. Licking his lips, Nero asked, “What do you meditate on Master? Light?”

Shaking his head, Ben felt outward. The red string that connected his love and himself, taking him to the person who understood him the most. “I meditate on balance. The push and pull of life,” he nodded before uncrossing his legs. “I believe that is enough for today. Go on and play with the others.”

Nero nodded his head quickly, standing and running from the small temple. Ben followed him outside, breathing in the fresh air as his eyes traveled the lush green forest. Rey always loved planets with green since she’d spent most of her life on a desert planet, so they were both thrilled when they’d discovered this one. It wasn’t in any of the archives, nor did it have any natives here because they had checked extensively. And so they claimed it as Alderaan.

His eyes wandered to where the other younglings were playing, chasing each other around in a game he couldn’t remember the name of. Even though the 7 of them were being trained in the Jedi ways, he still made time for them to just be children. There was still peace around the galaxy, with any uprising promptly disbanded with as little casualties as possible per Poe’s request. Ben had kept this from all the younglings, trying not to burden their childlike minds and wanting them to stay innocent for as long as he could.

“Daddy!” one of his daughters called as her buns bounced with each stride of her little legs. She ecstatically waved her hand at him which made him wave his own hand, smiling at her. Her identical sister immediately saw him and copied the action, so he raised his other hand to wave as well.

After he acknowledged them, they turned back to play with the other younglings as he leaned against the doorframe and watched. Nova had been born first, a mere minute before her sister trailed after her like they did in everyday life. Nova was the loud, outgoing one while Astra was the shier of the two, always following her sister around. Still, the moment they were born, Ben knew he was outmatched.

Both of the girls had Rey’s looks with their delicate brown hair and hazel eyes that captured him every time. He would be wrapped around all three of their fingers for the rest of his life, but he didn’t mind at all. He would gladly do anything they asked, without question. Not only did they look like their mom, but they had that stubborn, wildness that kept him on his toes at every waking second.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t handle them, or the 5 other children, with Rey being gone a lot. When she was gone though, Ben was crazy with need to feel her around him. The body separation was probably the hardest part, he wanted nothing more than to feel her soft body against his. He was thankful for the teaching then because it kept him distracted from the thrumming in his body.

What they had decided was that he would teach the younglings while she would find them. So far, all the ones they had here had once been slaves on far away planets. Only 1 of them had been born into slavery, the other 4 of them had been sold by their own parents because their abilities made them tremble with fear.

The 5 added with their 2 gave him purpose and was a decent number, but both he and Rey wanted as many as they could teach. Unlike the Jedi before them, there to keep just balance and not get involved, they would act on the best interest for the galaxy. One of those was to end slavery, free everybody from chains, and persecute those whom ‘owned them’ if they didn’t release them at their first request or dared to take anybody else.

Even with Rey halfway across the galaxy, saving innocent children, he could still feel it. There was another child growing inside of her, and much like their siblings, they too would have the Force. For some reason though, this one seemed to be restless unlike their sisters. Almost like they wanted to be born already, ready to embrace the galaxy and use their Force now.

Where Nova and Astra were calm and leveled headed, this one seemed to almost ignite and burst forth with every fiber of its being. He could feel the way they would practically erupt inside of Rey whenever she used the Force herself. For some odd reason, he had an inkling inside of him that told him this child would be different. Where the Force lived in them and moved around them, the Force was practically coming from this one.

When the sun began to set, Ben fed the kids and they had evening gathering. It wasn’t a lesson per say, they all talked about their day, their feelings.

As the fire crackled, casting dark shadows around them, the oldest of the kids spoke.

Oti, the boy with bright yellow skin and green hair, spoke, “Earlier today, I thought I felt a ripple in the Force, Master Solo.”

Straightening his back, feeling it crack, Ben asked, “A ripple?”

“Yes,” Oti said with a firm nod. “It felt like a surge, but it was gone as quickly as it had appeared.”

Thinking back, Ben couldn’t remember feeling a ripple. That didn’t mean it didn’t happen, perhaps he had been too focused on Rey and the child to notice it. “And did you get a feeling for it? Was it light, dark, or neutral?”

Oti paused for a second, his brow furrowing slightly before glancing up. The fire made his skin almost as bright as the sun, making it hard for Ben to keep looking at him, but it was important that he did so. He didn’t want any of them to feel different here, he wanted them all treated equally. “Unclear,” he spoke before shaking his head. “I’m sorry, Master.”

“It’s not your fault,” Ben offered and looked to each of them. “You all must understand, understanding the Force is not always the easiest. It is hard work, and can even trip up those experienced.”

“Even you, Master?” Nero asked as he fiddled with his hands.

“Well, it’s not just me in my head,” he offered. “I have the advantage of having two. What I don’t sense, Master Solo most certainly will. I mean… Master Rey, er…”

“Master Solo,” Nova spoke up as she rested her chin on her open palm, her elbow on her knee. “Master Solo and Master Solo is weird. One of you needs a different name.”

“I know…” Ben trailed with a shake of his head. It wasn’t like the two of them had ever legally gotten married, but it was fitting for the two of them. He was able to reach across that bond, letting Rey know before she gave her answer. “Rey it is,” he muttered. “Since she’s not teaching you, we’ll call her Rey.”

“Yes, Master,” they all spoke with nods of their heads.

“And the ripple, Master?” Oti asked. “Did Rey feel it?”

Ben didn’t need to ask this, knowing that she hadn’t felt it. “No,” Ben said with shake of his head. Still, something was nagging at the back of his head. Had their baby been the ripple Oti had felt? The baby was very active at one point today, which had to be what it was. Ben and Rey would have felt it if it was anything different. “I don’t think it’s anything at the moment. It could have been another Force user being born. I assure you, that if we sense anything, you all will be told.”

“Yes, Master,” they all replied as one.

Ben couldn’t help but take them all in, studying each of the children. Even if Nova was merely 4, she was much stronger than any of the children here. She was careful not to show it, while Nero was definitely the least skilled. Then, Gin had a crush on Oti, while the poor boy was completely oblivious to her advances. Not that they needed to be doing anything, Oti was only 13 and she was 2 years younger.

It wasn’t long after that, that he sent them off to bed.

Early the next morning, the sound a familiar ship alerted him to a landing. He was dressed quicker than he thought possible, not bothering with his boots as he rushed to the makeshift landing pad. The Falcon was touching down as the 7 younglings came from their huts, most rubbing the sleep from their eyes.

As it landed, the main door opened and Rey appeared before him at the top of the ramp. Just like the first time he’d ever seen her, he wanted nothing more than to gather her into his arms and make love to her. Of course, he would never do that here in front of the children, so when she came to him all he could do was kiss her on the cheek.

He was sure to touch her belly, feeling the little life growing there.

Shaking her head, “Can’t anything be a surprise with you?”

“Never,” he breathed and leaned down, resting his forehead against her.

Smiling, Rey pulled back before waving yet another child down. This one was probably close to Nero’s age, a little girl with dark skin and braids in her hair. She was malnourished, her face gaunt as she crept down the ramp towards him. Prying ever so slightly, he felt her fear towards large men and relied on Rey to introduce them. Rey was much better at building rapport with slave children.

“Deborah, this is Master Solo. This is the man I was telling you about,” Rey spoke, squatting down to get closer to her level.

“Master Solo?” the girl, now named Deborah, asked in a meek voice.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Ben offered with a smile, squatting down as well to appear as small as possible. “If you want, the other kids can show you around. This is Alderaan, your new home.”

“It’s because I’m different, isn’t it?” she mumbled so quietly that it was going to be a process to understand anything she would say.

“You are different. You have an amazing ability that I want you to hone and build on. That way, you can hopefully help the galaxy,” he said with a firm nod of his head before waving the children forward. Immediately, they all accepted her into their tiny family. Nova was blabbing about her braids, Oti was giving her a rundown of the planet, and Nero was trying to tug her along to show her around.

As soon as the kids left, Ben felt a firm hand on his butt which made him jump slightly. Rey chuckled under her breath as he wrapped her tightly in his arms. He buried his face into her neck, “I have missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too,” Rey said, tugging his face away from her neck to press her lips against his.

Ben could already feel himself pressing against his pants as her tongue stroked the inside of his mouth, their minds swirling around each other’s. As much as he wanted to take her back to his hut and let her do as she liked with him, he did need to hear about her adventures and how young Deborah was found. Sighing, he pulled back, “How were your travels?”

Cocking her head to the side, Rey knew that hearing about her travels wasn’t what he actually wanted. Smiling, “Later. How long do you think we have?”

Glancing to where the children were only just getting to their huts, he shrugged, “20 minutes?”

Nodding her head, Rey tugged hard on his hand back to their hut. Ben had glanced back only once, taking in the sight of the now 8 younglings, soon to be 9. Together, they could help to save the galaxy. That business could wait until tomorrow though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well... That's all everybody!! I hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!!


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